AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: ANCIENT THRONES — “A MOON FUSED KEY”

(written by Islander)

Today we’re helping announce a new album by the death metal band Ancient Thrones from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Its name is Melancholia and it’s set for release on September 19th. To help spread the word, we’re also premiering a lyric video for the album’s first single and opening song, “A Moon Fused Key“.

But while those are the main purposes of this article, we can’t resist talking first about the album’s extremely intriguing narrative concept… and that stunning cover art you see up there above these words.

First, here is Ancient Throne‘s description of the album’s narrative:

The album is about a person who is seemingly colourblind, who takes psychedelic drugs as a last-ditch effort to see colour. As the trip unfolds, he begins to live his ideal life, seeing colour for the first time. In reality, something else is happening. The writing is on the wall from the beginning of the record to the bitter end.

Musically, the album is tailored to the lyrics, and ebbs and flows as the character makes challenging decisions, and experiences pain, joy, and perhaps most prominently existential exhaustion. The album is fast, jagged, and unapologetic in its aggression, as we lead this character to his final tripped-out day in a fantastical place.

And now, here is the band’s explanation of the cover art:

The album cover is symbolic of the character in the story. The character is treading a path to destruction while on a hallucinogenic journey to some sort of peace. I wanted the colours to feel like colours you recognize in nature, but to feel like there’s something off with them, something not right. The bloody red birds fleeing the castle are meant to symbolize the blood leaving the body. The castle is made of glass, symbolizing its jagged, dangerous nature, but also the fragility of life, and it stands tall and menacing, but still somehow beautiful and intriguing.

We worked with an artist named Carter Doody from our home province in New Brunswick, and we gave him tons of details about the album’s story to incorporate into the cover. There are references to glass, birds, sirens, and storming water all throughout the album, and it is on full display on the cover. Imaginative realism is the best description I can think of, something that could possibly exist, but most certainly should not.

But now we should turn to “A Moon Fused Key“.

As mentioned, this is the song that kicks off the record. As Ancient Throne explains, it sets the stage “for the violent nature about to unfold both musically and lyrically”: “This is the point of the record where the character severs every piece of life from his body. At the end of the song, he sees the hand of god pulling him to heaven, and he severs it.”

The music is indeed violent, and immediately so, exploding in a blast of turbulent riffing, heavily undulating bass tones, and furious beats. The guitars wildly writhe and rapidly spear off in crazed angles, kaleidoscopic in effect, and the words spit forth in caustic screams that are equally deranged.

Dissonant and dismal tones intrude, along with guttural roars, blast-beat outbursts, and pulverizing blows, and the riffing also seems to swarm in agony, adding further dimensions of darkness to the song’s overarching manifestation of delirium.

Backed by a pulse-pounding and highly headbangable groove, the song also introduces yet another dimension, an eerie guitar solo that slowly slithers, brightly swirls, and evolves into an entrancing harmony, very much like a beckoning and seductive presence that manifests within the mayhem.

And here’s one more comment from drummer/vocalist Sean Hickey:

I think this album is a turning point in the band, where we were able to take the atmosphere of our previous record, and kick the aggression up to a thousand. The last record was intended to be poetic and hopeful, but this record intends to crush any ounce of hope that is left. We just want as many people to move to our music as possible, whether it’s at home, at a show, or anywhere in between. Bang your head and feel something.

ANCIENT THRONE:
Dylan Wallace – Guitar
Nick Leslie – Guitar
Matt LeBlanc – Bass
Sean Hickey – Drums & Vocals

Melancholia is a DIY effort. It was produced by Ancient Thrones, and it was mixed and mastered by Dylan Wallace. It comes recommended for fans of The Black Dahlia Murder, The Red Chord, Deafheaven, Revocation, and Opeth. For more info about the album as its release date approaches, check out the links below.

https://ancientthrones.bandcamp.com/music
https://www.facebook.com/Ancientthrones
https://www.instagram.com/ancientthrones