Ancient Rites - Laguz

Ancient Rites has had a long and illustrious career spanning more than two decades. Starting out as a black metal band with really early material bordering on Celtic Frost worship they seem to be overlooked when it comes to early black metal, and that's a shame because they were doing it right around the second wave was in full bloom. The future would hold something quite different for these Belgians as they went into a more epic viking metal direction starting with 1998's Fatherland and peaking with 2001's Dim Carcosa. It's been almost a decade since their last album, Rubicon, has graced our ears and finally we have their newest opus, Laguz, and man was it worth the wait.

Sometimes, you never know what you are going to get when there is such a long time between releases. It could either be really good or really bad. In the case of Ancient Rites, the result is an excellent epic metal album that picks up where the last album left off without it ever feeling like there was a nine year lull in hearing from this band. The band's consistency is due to the one constant in the band, bassist/vocalist Gunther Theys. It shows that his influence in the songwriting is all over this album. After an instrumental into we have "Carthago Legenda Est." This song is proof that, once again, we will get another history lesson from this band as this song is about the Punic wars that waged for over one hundred years in the third/second century B.C. As one would expect with this kind of lyrical content that this would be another killer epic from this band. The song is brilliant in it's epic feel as the orchestrations are real. The musician ship is just top notch here. The orchestrations are prominent but the riffs and the blast beats drive this song. Gunther's vocals are a cross between a black metal rasp and an almost narrative tone. He's telling a story set to music. The melodies in this song are quite infectious and culminate with a nice solo at the midway point in the song.

These guys also prove that you don't always have to write eight or nine minute songs to be epic as fuck. Most of the songs on this album straddle the five minute mark but seem to pack so many elements into these songs. Each one tells it's own story but the music stays within that epic theme. "Under the Sign of Laguz" brings us back to the viking age with killer blasts, serious tremolo riffs, and bombastic orchestrations. There's a lot of metal out there labeled as symphonic metal but, in my opinion, this is the epitome of symphonic metal. Less than five and a half minutes long, this song takes you on a musical journey through the ancient north lands and ancient Nordic mythology with Gunther's signature way of "narrating" the story that this song tells. It is at this point that it hits me that even the band's name matches their music. "Apostata" starts off with an almost eastern feel in the orchestrations then kicks in with the heavy guitars and some killer eastern feeling lead riffs driving the song along with the bombastic orchestrations. This is the longest song on the album and is just epic from beginning to end. There are so many elements to this song that a proper description would be pointless, let alone impossible.

"Umbru Sumus" is another song that needs mention here shut due to it's sheer brilliance. From the opening riffs you get the feeling that this song is something special. It opens with some serious tremolos and blasts but transitions to be so much more. As with every song on this album, the orchestrations are there and this song adds another layer with some prominent piano involved. This is one of those songs that just defines this band and their own special brand of epic metal that only these guys can do. This song is heavy, melodic, bombastic without being pompous or pretentious. It leads right into the last proper song on the album, "Frankenland." This song is less than four and a half minutes but seems to pack just as much bombastic epic metal as the longer songs. This song has that special something that makes it one of those songs that gives me chills while it is playing. Gunther's narrative giving us another history lesson is part of the magic that is Ancient Rites. A brief narrative over piano and acoustic guitars rounds out the album with a short song, "Fatum." It's the perfect way to end a perfect album.

Once again, this band has not let me down. There is no song on this album that is out of place or drags this album down. Each song flows to the next with precision and sheer brilliance. Hey, how can you go wrong with an album that has a photo of the original Sutton Hoo helmet as it's cover art? If you are a fan of this band and have been wondering where they've been for the last nine years, this is your answer. Does it take nine years to create perfection? Maybe it does because this album is just that, perfect.

10/10

Sanity's Rage - You Are What You Swallow

I remember when thrash was young and certain bands came along that added new dimensions to the genre. Once the 90s came, thrash bands seem to adopt more of a groove metal sound or they just went into other directions. But real thrash seem to fade away. Fast forward to 2012 and it seems that thrash is making a comeback. Sanity's Rage from Belgium have actually taken classic thrash and put a modern spin on it. They actually have been around since 2002 and their debut EP was released in 2006 and was rather well received by those who heard it. Their debut full length, You Are What You Swallow, sees a band really set into a formula that works well making for an enjoyable listen.

This band wears their influences on their sleeve as they can seem to, at any given time, remind me of several different thrash bands from yesteryear but still sound like themselves. The production is meaty and clean and is modern sounding but it seems to fit with the band's music. This band plays riff laden thrash that is just crushing. The opener, "The Madness Continues" opens up the album with some acoustics that seem to touch on Annihilator's "Crystal Ann." The title track kicks in and so do the riffs that are just monstrous while being able to keep melody in their music. The soloing on this album ranges from great to godly so if you like your thrash with good, well constructed solos then this is your band. The vocals are a bit on the Mille Petrozza side of thrash on some songs  but with enough of his own sound to not be. The true stars of this album is the riffing. "Aberration Mandatory" is just an example of how well this band can write fast paced songs with relentless riffing and incredible soloing. If this is the future of thrash, I'm fucking sold!

Keeping in the true thrash fashion, the lyrics on this album are mostly political and angry but not in a way that seems like they were trying to hard. They are believable. How can you not love a band that titles one of their songs "Thumbs up for the End of the World?" They also add just the right amount of groove to some of their songs to keep you interest and mix things up a bit on the album. "Product of Calamity" reminds me Kreator in the beginning and of Wratchchild America in the middle section as it grooves as well as crushes. But when they thrash they take no prisoners as their sound will remind you of German thrash while they throw in some Bay Area sounding stuff in there as well. The song lengths vary as some are in the three minute range but a few are over five minutes and one is as long as six minutes but they all seem to fit well together as the longer songs keep your attention while the shorter songs whip your ass quickly leaving you dazed and wondering what the fuck hit you! "The Wheels Keep Grinding" is that six minute song and is the example of how this band can be thrash but epic as well. This song is full of riffs as well as some complex time changes that it keeps you interested so they also do technical trash very well.

So here you have a thrash band that takes everything we ever loved about classic thrash and adds just a bit of a modern component to make this band interesting. I'm hoping that this band gets the recognition they deserve because I would like to hear more from this band.

8.5/10