"The most immediate aspects of Timewave Zero are the groovy, pulsing melodies lurking in the depths of both compositions—the first titled “Io,” the second “Ea.” Both pieces take a similar journey through four movements and roughly 20 minutes. They both begin with a low, wind-chiming rumble, which evolves into a laser-show crescendo before hushing back to a burbling roar. At their peak in the second movements, both songs spotlight a cycle of notes on the synthesizer—motifs that, if transposed for a down-tuned electric guitar, you might call “riffs”—that make Timewave Zero more distinctive and intense than the planetarium mood music Reidl has occasionally described it as...

In both compositions, the most compelling parts are the in-between phases, which just so happen to be in the third movements. This is when Morris Kolontyrsky enters with acoustic guitar, a pacifying texture amid the dark swirl of synths. The third movement of “Ea,” in particular, makes brilliant use of these dynamics. Kolontyrsky fingerpicks a minor chord over what sounds like a Mellotron, building to a mournful swell that suggests the shadow of a string section. It comprises the most beautiful five minutes on any Blood Incantation record and recalls the pastoral opulence of early King Crimson—the quiet moments that helped amplify the devilish outbursts surrounding them."

- Sam Sodomsky, Pitchfork