Rating: 7/10
Label: Shinebox/Gordeon 2011
Review by: Urban "Wally" Wallstrom
Lyrics about the mysteries of occult, paganism, satanic philosophy and what not really. Yes indeed, The Ancient VVisdom is blacker than black and darker than dark(ness) - you sort of expect to find tons of growls, full-throttle black metal, and abyss-like screams on "A Godlike Inferno", only to end up disappointed (?) by the soft and laidback album both style and music-wise. Well, it's a nice surprise as well as a welcome change from the cliche' like releases of the genre.
They blend acoustic and electric guitars, synth sounds, vocal harmonies and abstract percussion in their search of a deeper, ethereal quality and minimalist arrangemets. Certainly related to the most laidback style of Type O Negative at times and neo-folkore music. They're using acoustic guitars to give the music an organic connection to the nefarious rites they begat. Very basic and several tracks such as the excellent "Necessary Evil", "World Of Flesh" and "Children Of The Wasteland" are more in the style of singer/songwriter than full-on speedy black/death metal.
To be honest, the music doesn't fit into the usual/normal pigeonholes and it's actually quite healthy and nice to listen to something out of the ordinary. What's next AOR with black metal lyrics? Vocalist Nathan Opposition (ex-Integrity drummer) isn't howling over the melodies as much as softly whispering and his powerfully honest voice works nicely together with the material. I like it, I like it a lot... but if you can't look past the lyrics, well, simply look the other way.
www.myspace.com/ancientvvisdom/
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