Written: 18th August 2024
Following their debut in 2013 and JUNO Award winning second album Voice of the Void in 2016, British Columbia-based Anciients seemingly disappeared. Speaking about the reasons behind the extended hiatus, guitarist and vocalist Kenny Cook explains the need to focus on his family. “Basically, right before Voice of the Void was recorded, my wife had our first kid. She ended up having heart complications and almost passed away from it. We recorded the last record and once it came out, I was kind of just focusing on her, dealing with her health issues and keeping that in check. I wasn’t at the stage where I could be gone for half a year, especially with a new kid. Long story short, she’s happy and healthy now, but dealing with family issues was the main priority. It was a bit of a road.” Add in the departure of founding member Chris Dyck in 2017, COVID-19 and bass player Aaron Gustafson leaving the band a month before Anciients were due to record their new album and it all points to why the quartet have taken eight years to release their third opus, Beyond The Reach Of The Sun.
Anciients have stepped up the progressive aspects of their music and longest track, opener Forbidden Sanctuary – an allegory on the themes of decay, conflict and redemption – certainly begins to highlight these embellishments. Gradually ushering in the album with carefully picked guitar and steady restrained bass, Forbidden Sanctuary steadily unfurls like a flower in the sun. Ninety seconds in, urgent guitar riffs and the introduction of Mike Hannay’s drums begin to drive the song forward, eventually opening up with an infectious, melodic riff. A combination of clean and growling vocals inhabit the song and both work equally well during different sections. At over eight minutes, Forbidden Sanctuary certainly has the feel of an epic but so cohesive and enthralling is the track, that it rushes by in what seems like mere moments.
Despoiled – more hostile in style from the outset – adopts harsher sounds and bellicose rhythms from Hannay and new bassist Rory O’Brien. With moody doom-influenced sections and some unforgiving gutturals, Anciients are already demonstrating the natural diversity of the album. Adept at conjuring ominous moods, the introduction to Is It Your God – which explores disillusionment with religious faith - ruminates with dark atmospheres. “That one is a little more personal to me and my situation,” Cook says sombrely. "I had a good friend of mine from when I was younger pass way from cancer. His mother was super-religious and there were ideas taken from her questioning how could something like that happen to her when she had such a strong faith.” On Is It Your God, as they do throughout the album, Anciients confound expectations. Playing with a combination of minor and major keys, they never allow the listener to settle, making the song even more beguiling. Beyond The Reach Of The Sun is the first album to feature synths and keyboards and here Justin Hagberg contributes some background organ reminiscent of 1970s progressive rock.
Each song takes it times to reveal its secrets, evident in Melt The Crown, which flows between sections that combines those progressive rock instincts with moments of early post-metal. Eerie and disconcerting one moment, abrasive and pugnacious the next, it visits a range of musical territories. Despite ending with a more vibrant, uplifting passage, the changes during the track appear organic and unforced such is Anciients confidence in their wide-ranging approach. Further illustrating this, Cloak Of The Vast And Black draws on some elements of atmospheric black metal, and Celestial Tyrant proves just how well Anciients can shred. Restless, laden with hooks and groove-based riffs, exhilarating solos and a stunning performance from Hannay, it is the most consistently relentless track on the album.
With Chris Dyck no longer in the line-up, Kenny Cook has taken responsibility for all the vocals and during the course of Beyond The Reach Of The Sun, he proves time and time again that he is more than capable of taking on this mantle. His commanding but wounded performance on Beyond Our Minds or his potently confrontational vocals during the opening section of The Torch being just two examples.
New bassist Rory O’Brien – who in the words of Cook, “saved our asses at the last minute” – makes his presence felt throughout - the pulsating instrumental Candescene an opportunity to display both the dextrous and heavier elements of his playing. Accentuating Anciients commitment to a creating a stimulating, contrasting listening experience, Candescene shimmers with layered synths – played by producer / mixer Jess Gander. Mixing quieter, darker instances with interludes of vigorous guitars from Cook and Brook MacInnes, the track shows Anciients at their most experimental. Final track Absence of Wisdom opens with an intoxicating, delicate and ambient post-rock feel. Beautifully played, it eventually leads us towards the main part of the track. With interesting changes of tempo, well structured harmonies and an excellent guitar solo from Cook, the final two thirds of the track maintains the energy that has been inherent to the success of the album.
Beyond The Reach Of The Sun is among the most accomplished, compelling albums of the year thus far. Fans of Opeth, Mastodon, Baroness and The Ocean – to name just a few – will unearth a plethora of treasures within. Intelligently structured and meticulously composed, Anciients exude self-assurance without ever becoming self-indulgent. Jesse Gander’s superb production is sympathetic to the melodic and heavier aspects of the album - every instrument and vocal nuance can be individually picked out. It blends the pummelling dimensions of earlier releases with increasing nods to their progressive rock attributes and a willingness to afford the songs greater aural expansiveness. With Beyond The Reach Of The Sun, Anciients have produced an album with exceptional musicianship , profound depth – both lyrically and musically - and enduring resonance. Highly recommended.
Beyond The Reach Of The Sun is released on 30th August 2024.
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