The Blood of the Ancients

One of four Drowning the Light full-lengths released in 2009, it might be an overestimation to expect much of value from The Blood of the Ancients; and unfortunately this suspicion holds true through the bulk of its content. The lineup here includes the central figure Azgorh, his regular contributor Blackheart, and two other members known as simply 'S' and Tortured Soul. Together they rifle through the standard fare, raw and sorrow-choked black metal which suffers largely through the production, though the actual writing is not up to par with several other works from the Australians. I take no issue with the cold and unassuming intent here, but the delivery feels slightly subpar.

Once you get beyond the lavish, gleaming guitar into "So Far From Home", you're thrust into a number of tracks which become nearly indistinguishable from one another. The driving thunder of "Night of Neverending Turmoil", for example, might have a different exact notation than "Lunar Reflection in Blood (Vampires of the old)", but the songs feel like one drawn out spectacle through which the drums cut and crash too loudly, and the guitars get lost in themselves, aside from those passages where the percussion drops and you're given a suicidal glint of simplicity as notes are allowed to breathe out from their chords. A few tracks try different motifs, like the wonderful deep male vocals in "Residing in a Kingdom Now Lost" or the writhing, memorable hook that opens "Servant of an Unholy Plague", but these are the exceptions rather than the rule.

The mix of the album doesn't do it much of a service, though the glaze of raw is not uncommon on such a work, but here it feels more annoying than cloying, and the potential for a headache is enormous. Granted, black metal is supposed to hurt, it's supposed to reach into your eardrums and drag the living spirit out of you and then bite it in the neck, but many albums seem to let the writing do the killing, and use a minimal studio sound the listener can live with. The Blood of the Ancients would hardly be a success with better engineering, but it does grow unnerving. That aside, it's pretty much run of the mill, underground necrotic black metal with a few moments of shine where the band sways from the beaten path. The lyrics are decent, casting a negative, emotional pallor on the proceedings, and the vocals create an appropriate hostility, but there are few if any distinguishing characteristics to stand forth from hundreds of similar records, and these copious Australians are capable of better.

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No longer the latest release in DTL’s relentless publishing schedule, this album was recorded about a year ago and features a different lineup than “The Serpent’s Reign” and associated splits. Most notably this is the guitar and bass duty which according to the liner notes is split between Azgorh and two other members. Gone also are the sorrowful acoustic interludes, although the album opens with one – a very nice clean recording, a bit of a surprise in fact as the rest of the album assumes DTL’s usually dusty sound.

The album falls nicely into the band’s repertoire, as it progresses, each release gets marginally better and more solid, in terms of song-writing and musicianship. I guess it’s unrealistic to expect quantum leaps – just a steady rise towards an unknown pinnacle. The restless and fickle critic that I am, one would think that by now I would be tempted to say “fuck it, he’s just doing the same album over and over”. But with all honesty I cannot, because having heard quite a bit of this artist’s work, I know what he is capable of and in the end, these are all enjoyable albums. Every now and then there is a real gem here and there, like the song “Blood Upon the Altar of Time” or “My Honour is True”.

“The Blood of the Ancients” then contains 9 songs employing the usual melancholy/triumphant formula, with the opening track “Night of Neverending Turmoil” being almost a reprise of “Of Celtic Blood…” Track 7 “Servant of Unholy Plague” is probably the one exception being an evil aggressive piece. And whilst that whole album (“Of Celtic Blood…”) had a more riff-oriented feel maybe, this is focused more on flow and progression with mid-paced drums crackling slightly through the mix. The last track “Victory in Sight” is almost a ballad. The drumming on the last few DTL albums has been quite outstanding, if you know who this guy is and his other work, you’ll know what I mean without having to hear proof. The gems on this one would have to be the song “The Darkness is the Guiding Light”. Again – the formula is simple – triumphant riffs and plodding mid-paced drums building up to a gentle keyboard overlay with a very nice clean piano tune ringing out sorrowfully in the murky darkness. It’s minimalism, but that’s what makes this great – once the hook is in, it really gets to you. Track 6 “Residing in the Kingdom Now Lost” has another interesting moment – a Gregorian Chant-type vocal overlay introducing the song’s main theme.

So here we have another good album by Drowning the Light. I can’t recommend it over any other he’s done, but seeing that these are released in a limited number it might just be the one for you, especially if you have just joined us. Hails!

Originally published in Procession of Black Doom zine #4

So here we go again, the ever prolific Drowning The Light (DTL) has unleashed their latest opus. It seems like only yesterday ‘The Serpents Reign’ was committed to disc but that’s how DTL function I suppose. In any other case we may want the artist to catch a grip and stop releasing masses of below par material, but with DTL the output is usually above average so the argument bears little weight. As with all previous material the production has that covered-in-a-blanket muffled aura about it, this still surprises you even though you expect it (if you know what I mean) because most bands always strive for a better sound or at least some way different in construction but with DTL its consistent haziness. Buy this CD and your expensive hi-fi equipment is useless, you may as well be listening though an aging 80’s cassette player.

You have to hand it to DTL though, they know how to create atmosphere. They are one of the only bands about who create good Black metal in the old vein. It actually feels satanic and evil and from the blackened heart. This album has a good mix of tracks, Azgorhs malevolent hisses lurk in and around the fuzz of guitars. Keyboards are used to good effect and only when needed with the drums ranging from blast beats to slower rhythms. ‘So far from home’ is a short instrumental intro which would maybe have been better placed as an outro but is good all the same. On ‘Residing in a Kingdom Now Lost’ there is some clean singing, almost chanting, over some fast paced drums that run pretty much throughout. Contender for stand out track would be ‘When Dusk Breathes its Last Breath’. The tempo slows for this and a cleaner guitar sound jangles along with minimal piano keys struck to add another dimension. It has that feel of sadness about it that DTL are renowned for and calls for repeated listens.

This is a good album containing DTLs better trademarks but scores a little lower here as it lacks originality to set it apart from their historical work. If you are a new comer this is a good as any place to start for some raw and varied atmospheric black metal.