ANCIENT DEATH: “EGO DISSOLUTION”

(Our Norway-based writer Chile has provided the following enthusiastic review of the debut album from Ancient Death, recently released by Profound Lore Records.)

Sometimes I feel that new bands have it hard. Other times I feel something else. Anyway, new bands. With what is now more than a half a century of metal history behind us, one would think that the burden of classics weighing down and the manic following of fans trying to prove that nothing great came out after Altars of Madness or Leprosy, would somehow discourage anyone from playing death metal. Well, think again.

These days, with all the technological possibilities permeating the music industry, the one real problem bands can encounter is finding their one, trve identity in the scene flooded with copycats. It seems like all the great, memorable band names have been taken by the ancestors, so new bands have to resort to various imaginative combinations on that perennial quest.

Enter Ancient Death. Hailing from Massachusetts with a name symbolic of the genre it plays, the band was formed in 2019 (or 2021, depending where you look) and already has a great EP and a split with Germany’s Putridarium under their belt. It’s only natural that the next step taken is a full-length album. Released on April 18th on Profound Lore Records, Ego Dissolution is the band’s debut and a wonderful show of intent and talent.

One of Ancient Death’s promo pictures has them wearing band shirts by, respectively, Cynic, Sadus, The Chasm and Death. The photographer probably wore his/her Timeghoul shirt, while we’re at it. The band makes sure that these are not empty words, because one would not be mistaken in saying that Ego Dissolution sits exactly at the crossroads of those influences spread over the tightly-wound 35 minutes of the album. 

The title track proves this straight off. Blasting in a familiar manner, riffs come pouring out without judgement, ready-made to dislocate some cervical vertebrae. The band turns the screw tight at first, but then lets it loose in a series of guitar solos, which at this point we should say are an absolute highlight of the album.

“Breaking the Barriers of Hope” goes even harder with this template, but paints a cosmic canvas so vast that it transcends the space-time continuum. Guitar solos again showcase the abilities of Ray Brouwer and Jerry Witunsky, putting them in the same orbit with Marty Friedman’s acrobatics on Rust in Peace or Go Off!, depending on your preference.

“Breathe – Transcend (Into the Glowing Streams of Forever)” sounds exactly as you would guess from its title. A sprawling epic of death metal mastery that gains escape velocity from this reality and propels us on a true celestial journey. Just observe the slowdown after the one-minute mark, and the appearance of Jasmine Alexander’s clean vocals (also on bass duties) shining like a beacon from some crystal mountain, before the band throw themselves back into riff-heavy beatdown and all things will be revealed.

“Journey to the Inner Soul” is the first of the two instrumental tracks on the album, this one being more of a full-fledged song, going for and achieving that sacred serenity with some great drum work by Derek Moniz, while the other, “Discarnate”, feels more like an interlude, mostly due to its shortness and overall introspective mood.

“Echoing Chambers Within the Dismal Mind” repeats the formula from “Breathe – Transcend” in an even more impressive manner with everything turned up to eleven, while “Unspoken Oath” could be the most straightforward song on the album as it bludgeons the listener with zero tolerance. Riding on a infectious earworm of a riff, the band seem to turn their gaze inward and into the depths of the human condition. 

This sentiment seeps into the final track “Violet Light Decays” which builds slowly into a world where shadows lie, but light lingers with the band hellbent on taking the weight of the world on themselves. Or in their own words: 

Let the judgments of others
Leave your mind
And fill your heart with
Vessels of light
Live your life
And be who you’re meant to be

In the end, we can say that what the band achieves here with Ego Dissolution is a rare feat of managing to reach for the stars through a hole in the closed casket of a genre starship. The fantastic cover by the talented Maegan LeMay, here showing some godforsaken misanthrope finally decomposing under the auspices of a 1,000 eyes, absolutely captures that otherworldly atmosphere Ancient Death is conveying through these eight songs. Repeated listens are mandatory and the wait for the next album excruciating.

Ego Dissolution is out on April 18th on Profound Lore Records in all available formats. Orders for the record and all related merchandise are possible via EU, US, and Bandcamp stores.

https://ancient-death.bandcamp.com/album/ego-dissolution
https://www.facebook.com/people/Ancient-Death/100063961366741
https://profoundlorerecords.com
https://profoundlore-records.merchcare.de/en