Blood Incantation + Gong

On April 8, 2026, at 6MIC in Aix‑en‑Provence, Blood Incantation returned to exploring its cosmic horizons. Straddling death metal and progressive rock, the Denver quartet broadened its palette with Absolute Elsewhere, a two‑part fresco that extends the turns taken on Starspawn and Hidden History of the Human Race. On stage, the band strings together sinuous riffs, tempo changes, ambient washes and synths, like a sci‑fi soundtrack nourished by ’70s prog. Led by Paul Riedl’s vocals and guitar, the rhythm section walks the line between contained violence and spacey drift. Their aim: to push the form without locking themselves into its codes, and to shift death metal into a cosmic trance.

Gong takes over. Born in 1969 from Daevid Allen’s initial impulse, the collective continues the story with Kavus Torabi, Dave Sturt, Fabio Golfetti, Ian East and Cheb Nettles. Rock, jazz, psychedelia and mystical touches intersect in supple themes, space‑rock flights and improvisations that trace out new paths. On stage, the band plays the present rather than nostalgia, while preserving the original spirit: freedom, humour, an offbeat sensibility, and that way of opening wide the doors of the imagination.