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| Releasing May 5th, 2023 |
Really, I'd hate to start this review off with a bias, but I have to, for honesty's sake, express my profound love of blackened melodic metal (or, I guess melodic black metal). Pairing the chaotic nature of bl,ack metal with something typically slower and structured just puts this sort of music in a place I can only describe as 'pleasing'. Yeah, it's the sort of thing that just clicks in the grey matter of my brain - as if my subconscious craves it in some primordial way (I'm aware this is probably the most pretentious way I could possibly describe it). So, when a band like Dawn of Existence comes my way with something like Ancient Arts - I mean, how could I resist a listen (I couldn't)?
Now, this is their debut album following a demo released way back in 2019 called Pale Mythos. In all honesty, I hadn't heard it before experiencing this album and I would have listened to it now - if not for the fact that it seems to be unavailable just about any place I look. Thats a shame really, I do so very much like to dig at the roots of musical ventures! Well, whatever those demos might have been, it seems like they ultimately lead to something I feel is quite impressive - but also a little thematically scattered.
Beginning with Marble Garden, you get a heavy dose of the 'melodic' portion of Ancient Arts. Composition feels a little along the lines of melodic acts such as Insomnium, but the 'blackened' portion doesn't seem to chime in until the second track 'Toes Up'. Strangely, Marble Garden doesn't even share the same vocal style as most of the album's tracks - aside from The Hierophant and Tides. All of these songs sound far more like 'melodic death metal' then anything blackened, and yeah, a little too much like Insomnium for my taste (like, insanely close). They aren't bad at all, but in compared to the harsher vocal style that runs through the rest of Ancient Art's tracks, they fall a little flat.
Thankfully, Dawn of Existence has a whole lot more album here for us listeners to dig into and I have to say it really hits the mark more often than not. Debut albums have a nasty habit of jumping all over the place, even the best of acts sometimes have debuts that don't seem to really have enough overall focus on what they want to do with their sound. Dawn of Existence (well, aside from the three aforementioned tracks) really nails down the blackened melodic metal approach here. Sure, the 'blackened' bits are entirely put upon multi-instrumentalist Astor's vocals, but it allows the melodic bits to shine through - enough to stand on their own, rather than be one of those infamous gimmicks that some groups use to stand out for a split second. So, to sum up a long-winded statement: it's solid; really damn solid.
General themes running through Ancient Arts tackle a wide variety of cosmic and (perhaps?) fantasy elements. It's honestly hard to tell what's going on here exactly, despite the fact that it really doesn't actually matter - the music is good, after all, and each song holds its own (even if I don't like the Insomnium feel of some). However, if you do find yourself caring about the lyrical structure and themes of the prose then you're probably going to feel just a bit torn. Again, it doesn't actually matter, and it isn't to the detriment to the album - but what you get here is basically what'd you'd hear on a doom album with a bunch of guys holding bongs and dressed in robes. My thoughts about this are 'good' - these are ideas and themes I really don't think should be horded by one particular subgenre and it's nice to see them drip out into new facets of the metal genre once again. Dawn of Existence should be proud of taking that step, rather than leaning fully against the tropes associated with most black or melodic metal bands.
For a debut, this album is one of insane quality and structured so carefully that it almost baffles me. Whatever effort transpired between the release of Pale Mythos and Ancient Arts clearly amounted to an album absolutely worth listening to. I do wish I could make a comparison, but, as I said, that doesn't seem to be an option right now. Votan and Astor have crafted an album with the right amount of all claimed elements in the blackened melodic metal categorization and when it comes to the table on May 5th, I don't see any reason it should be missed. New blood they are, but welcome it is!
-Kami Thee-
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