Blood Incantation – Starspawn

Starspawn is the debut studio album by American band Blood Incantation, released in 2016 on Dark Descent Records. Recorded in Denver with producer Pete deBoer, the band deliberately chose an analogue approach without click tracks or digital editing, giving the album a raw but spacious feel. The music blends the brutality of old-school death metal with cosmic themes and atmosphere, resulting in a sound that is both cavernous and intricate.

The record opens with the sprawling Vitrification of Blood (Part 1), a track that shifts between punishing riffs and ambient passages. Elsewhere, Hidden Species (Vitrification … Part 2) and the title track expand the album’s cosmic death metal concept with technical guitar work, fretless bass and moments of eerie calm. Starspawn has since become recognised as one of the defining death metal releases of its era, paying homage to the genre’s roots while pushing into new territory.

Reviews

“Superbly written and crafted, Starspawn is an exceptional album full of memorable moments, top notch songwriting and oppressive atmosphere, comfortably residing near the top of 2016’s death metal heap.” — Angry Metal Guy

“Starspawn is epic and vast in scope. Almost as much as its outer space science material.” — Metal Injection

“Rightly hailed throughout the underground as a modern classic, Starspawn’s miasmatic blend of celestial atmosphere, technicality, and jugular-shredding death metal vehemence … never gets in the way of a killer riff or a drop into more tranquil, quasi-melodic territory.” — Sputnikmusic

“The record is immaculately produced, with just the right ratio of spacey haziness to instrumental clarity.” — New Noise Magazine

“Blood Incantation plays stirring leads and head-bopping lines during chugging segments … Starspawn is technically-challenging, but catchy.” — CVLT Nation