It is great to see an underground band with a lot of promise who have spent several years trawling the underground, finally given a chance by a budding record label – something that seems to happen far too rarely these days. Ancient Ascendant is that band, and it is really great to see an official debut album with a label behind it. The UK band have been pretty prolific in the last few years, with a demo and 2 EPs within the last 3 years (prolific for underground death metal circles anyway!).
This is an astonishingly professional sounding debut album – gone are the days when a death metal band released album after album of badly produced noise, until gradually people caught on to what they were trying to do and the budget (and production) increased tenfold. The production is absolutely top-notch, and is a great balance between heaviness, muscularity and brutality. `The Grim Awakening’ could easily be Ancient Ascendant’s third or fourth album – they already sound like seasoned professionals, a band with a solid career behind and in front of them.
As for the sound of the band – to me it sounds like death metal with a progressive edge, rather than `old school death metal’ or any other sub-sub-genre. The guitars have a lot of power, bite and groove. There are some great pounding, headbanging moments which really remind me of the cream of the Polish metal scene, Vader, Behemoth et al. They have mastered in particular, the Vader-esque art of the visceral single-note riff (see `Blood Of Kingu’ and `Incarnation’ from the album De Profundis).
This is only part of their sound however, Ancient Ascendant also know how to create massive melodies and vast soundscapes, which really puts them head and shoulders above the rest of the death metal horde. Rather than relying on relentless brutality, they are experts at squeezing great drifting melodies and fantastically polished solos into the mix. Some of the melodies are slightly reminiscent of the Swedish melodic death metal scene, but that is due mostly to the great quality of the playing (and the production). Not only have the band managed to blend heaviness and melody to maximum effect, but there are also some really excellent progressive touches which add a further uniqueness to their sound.
All this is topped off by a fantastic vocal performance by Alex Butler, who roars with all the passion of a raging bull. His vocals are aggressive and over the top, yet clear and precise – and never once does he rely on ludicrous porcine gurgles.
For some brutalists, this album may be a little too mid-paced, but for those that are looking for a heavy, pounding death metal band with something more to offer, I can’t recommend this album enough.
http://ancientascendant.com
http://www.myspace.com/ancientascendant
Jon Butlin
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