On a cold Saturday night in Toronto, Lee’s Palace was jam packed to the gills. Metal heads from all walks of life came out in support of the Absolute Elsetour; featuring Blood Incantation and Midwife.

MIDWIFE

I arrived at the venue shortly before Midwife started their set, so it was a struggle to find a good spot. I won’t lie to anyone reading this review; I was instantly annoyed by the giant oafs standing in front of me. That’s the trouble with being a short person, but I digress at this point. I did my best take everything in and, if truth be told, I had no idea who the band was. If I had to describe their music, it was like a combination of the Velvet Underground, The Cocteau Twins and a peppering of blissful oriented guitar rock. I know this isn’t entirely an accurate description of the music, but that’s what came to mind at the time.

The music strayed mostly into slow dirges that I found boring. However, I wondered if I was in the minority because it seemed like most were really into the band. I’m not shitting on Midwife at all; but it just wasn’t my cup of tea. It wasn’t metal, but they proceeded with six songs that often lulled the crowd into a pleasurable territory. I did later find out the band is really only one person and she goes by the name of Madeleine Johnson. She’s considered a DIY auteur who plays guitar rock capturing a whole range of feels, so good on her.

Setlist
‘Colorado’, ‘Vanessa’, ‘2018’, ‘Killdozer’, ‘No Depression In Heaven’, ‘S.W.I.M.’

BLOOD INCANTATION

I was relieved when Midwife‘s set finished, so I kept my feet glued to the spot I picked out and waited patiently for Blood Incantation to start. For whatever reason they were a bit late getting out there, but at 10:15 pm the stage became electric, bathing the audience in a sea of blue lighting. They opened with ‘Tablet I’ and it sounded precise and brimming with twists and turns rhythmically. The audience was in awe right from the start, so you can imagine how ‘Tablet II’ resonated with the crowd when the clean vocals were heard. It was like seeing Pink Floyd being incarnated on the stage.

Just before ‘Tablet III’ began, vocalist Paul Riedl announced they would be playing the full album in it’s entirety, which got a positive response from the crowd. When the song exploded, the stage backdrop got all sci-fi like with the lights cascading in waves. I thought it added to the show and really drove the point home how great they sounded live. Arguably, this is my favourite track on the album and I thought they nailed it with the slow doomy passages mutating into death metal splendor.

The remainder of the set gave rousing renditions of tracks four to six, while the crowd was enthralled by the spot-on performances. What I liked about their set was how they played continuously without any lulls or breaks. After they concluded with Absolute Elsewhere, they performed the instrumental ‘Inner Paths” (To Outer Space)’ from Hidden History Of The Human Race. The track was played live to perfection; replete with spacey interludes and matched to gnarly death metal growls.

They ended the show with ‘Obliquity Of The Ecliptic’ from the 2023 maxi-single Luminescent Bridge. It’s an eight minute opus of death metal, mixed with ambient energy and dark grooves. The first half is pure splendor to my ears, but the second half of the song explodes into a more glorious soundtrack of melodic goodness. I thought this was a great way to end their set, despite how short it felt afterwards.

Setlist
‘The Stargate (Tablet I)’, ‘The Stargate (Tablet II)’, ‘The Stargate (Tablet III), ‘The Message (Tablet I), ‘The Message (Tablet II)’, ‘The Message (Tablet III)’, ‘Inner Paths (To Outer Space)’, ‘Obliquity Of The Ecliptic (extended ambient intro with a gong)’

CONCLUSION

Overall, fans of the band were treated to a show that evolves from ambient adventurism into proggy and forward thinking music; exhibiting some quality death metal. I have to hand it to these guys for creating an album that strives to push the boundaries of death metal and better yet deliver it so perfectly in a live setting.

Catch them on this tour if you can. Blood Incantation does not disappoint.