ANCIIENTS: Beyond The Reach Of The Sun (PROGRESSIVE METAL): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

It took Anciients eight long years to release “Beyond the Reach of the Sun”, their third album. This long absence from the progressive metal scene can be explained first by the health problems of guitarist/vocalist Kenny Cook's wife, then by the departure of guitarist Chris Dyck in 2017, and finally by that pandemic that paralyzed the entire world. In other words, fate has been unkind to the Canadians, and this new album has all the makings of a sensational comeback for a band whose future looked promising after “Voice Of The Void”.

Indeed, the first two tracks are particularly successful. The album kicks off with a highly immersive 'Forbidden Sanctuary', where the band deploy a clever mix of Mastodon's influences and atmospheric passages, before veering into death metal territory closer to early Opeth. 'Despoiled' continues in this vein, blending sludge and progressive metal, but confirms one of the band's major weaknesses: a rather limited clear vocal that contrasts with the highly mastered growls.

'Beyond the Reach of the Sun” unfortunately fails to convince over the long term. This is due to compositions that are often quite similar in structure, with intros based on clean arpeggios, riffs that are often effective but rather repetitive ('Is It Your God', 'Melt The Crown') and guitar solos that are not always very inspired ('In The Absence Of Wisdom').

With its ten tracks and almost an hour of music, “Beyond the Reach of the Sun” is actually a bit disappointing for its length and its desire to say as much as possible (no doubt to make up for lost time). The result is a rather sluggish album that eventually becomes tiresome. And even if certain tracks like 'Celestial Tyrant' and 'The Torch' stand out for their more direct and heavy approach, others like 'In The Absence of Wisdom' or the post-metal instrumental 'Candescence', which leans towards The Ocean, are cruelly lacking in interest.

Anciients' album is a little too ambitious. While Anciients's blend of sludge, death metal and post-metal is perfectly mastered, they still need to refine their compositions to make them more effective and catchy... and to do better with less, so to speak. - Official website

ANCIIENTS

BEYOND THE REACH OF THE SUN

AUTRE LABEL

PROGRESSIVE METAL