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September 7, 2008 |
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01. Envision The Beast
02. Rape The Children Of Abel
03. Horroble
04. Night Visit
05. Lycanthropy
06. Night Of The Stygian Souls
07. Fuel The Flames
08. The Truth Unveiled
09. The Arctic Mirage
10. Out In The Haunted Woods
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Beware their nocturnal visit! Veteran Norwegian black metallers ANCIENT are back with a vengeance on their newest disc, "Night Visit" - an aggressive, haunting, and very melodic black metal feast. The album title hints that some truly creepy things are going on here. The images that it conjures up are haunting and chilling in the same way that the question "What's under the bed?" can be more frightening than actually seeing what IS under there. It is this type of scenario that is brought to life by ANCIENT throughout this entire album.
"Envision The Beast" begins in rather typical black metal fashion (musically), but the listener does receive a brief refrain from the sonic bombast near the middle of the song with a beautiful little violin interlude. In short fashion however, it's back to the pummeling destruction. Lyrically, the song is more of a warning of what is to come than actually describing carnage (the 'What's under the bed?' theme). "No warning, no sign of what will thrust you way deep down", "Avoid the fight, the stormblast clash, for your soul will die", and "My fate seems sealed by life's own choice" build the listener up, until the final verse declares "My patience, it wears thin, My swirling wrath begins..." This is chilling storytelling at its best!
"Rape The Children Of Abel" is not about what the title suggests as this too is more of a warning of what could / will happen. This is a tale of revenge ("I'm stronger than you could ever be, when darkness comes I'll be set free”) and pain ("Alone I felt the talons of my deep depression"). "Horroble" (which in not a typo by the way) is unrelenting, while the title track "Night Visit", a tale of a girl assailed by the dead, is the ultimate nightmare soundtrack as the listener is left with a feeling of helplessness.
The almost tribal drumming featured on "Lycanthropy" is a welcomed surprise and is not the type of skin-bashing usually found on a black metal disc, while the 'rock guitar' solo on "Night Of The Stygian Souls" also makes the listener stop for a moment. And then there's the brutal riffing of "Fuel The Fire". No two songs on this album are similar, yet there is a cohesiveness to the whole album. It's the ability to create music that is unique that puts ANCIENT in the same league as DIMMU BORGIR and IMMORTAL.
"The Truth Unveiled" finishes things off in perfect, eerie fashion. The whispered vocal track and the piano the winds down to nothingness create an amazingly haunting ending to the song, leaving the listener to wonder just what happens. It's creepy as hell and would have been the perfect ending to this chilling disc. Well, it would have been, but the album doesn't end there. This will probably be one of the only times that you are going to hear someone complain about bonus tracks being included on a CD, but I'm going to do it here. The final tracks, "The Artic Mirage" and "Out Of The Haunted Woods' are merely synth soundscapes that do nothing to contribute to the album. In fact, if the powers that be would have left these tracks off the finished product, and ended it with "The Truth Unveiled", "Night Visit" would have been given the rating of a solid 9 (maybe even 9.5).
Everything about this album gels incredibly well - from the performances, the lyrics, and the music, to the art work and the production. Fans of DIMMU BORGIR and IMMORTAL will find this disc a must for their collection. However, if you enjoy creative, haunting music performed with both intensity and talent, then you too will enjoy "Night Visit" equally as much.
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