Search - Ancient :: Halls of Eternity

One step forward and two steps back

Ty Arthur | 02/19/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Since its inception in 1992, Ancient has managed to shift members for every single full-length release, which has caused their sound to change noticeably on each successive album. The band has always been creator Aphazel's baby though, so the underlying framework of Ancient's discography has always maintained the same basic concepts of fast drums and shredding guitars interspersed with hauntingly beautiful operatic moments and a healthy dose of black metal cheese. "The Halls of Eternity" is the fourth album from Ancient (with far too many EP's, Singles, and Compilations to count), and while there have been some advancements made from previous efforts, it seems that they have taken one step forward and two steps back.



Aphazael himself takes the reigns of the vocal work on this album, with the loss of previous vocalist Lord Kaiaphas. He has a sufficiently menacing growl that fits the mood of the songs, but his vocal talent is just burgeoning here, and maintains the exact same tone with no variation throughout the entire album. The guitar and drum work are superb, however, and really carry this disc. The music is just heavy enough to still bear the title "metal", while remaining toned down to a level that manages to keep up the sense of mysticism and magic that should be present on an album that is as steeped in the Occult as this one.



The Halls of Eternity follows a very similar path as Ancient's second album, "The Cainian Chronicle". The first track is an instrumental piece that builds an atmosphere of something magical, yet dangerous and evil, which transitions smoothly into the second track, where the metal comes out front and center. The next few songs, while not necessarily bad in any way, are just so similar to the first track that they are largely forgettable. "The Heritage" is a track to look out for however. The pipe organ intro sets a very creepy feel which gives way to a heavily distorted vocal part that actually manages to sound demonic instead of silly. Female singer Deadly Kristin's excellent purring vocals are also laced throughout the song, making it one of the best on the album.



The cheese factor, which is generally kept on a leash in the bands other offerings, has gone completely out of control on The Halls of Eternity. The song "I, Madman" will have black metal veterans hanging their heads in shame and genre newcomers laughing uncontrollably. Keyboardist Jesus Christ! performs a speaking part throughout the song that is simply too horrible to be adequately explained by the written word. I, Madman also serves as this album's ego stroking song. Like the Cainian Chronicle, which featured a track written and performed by Kaiphas, titled "Song of Kaiaphas", this song is written and performed by Jesus Christ! and is obviously supposed to be about him.



Fans of cheesy symphonic black metal will no doubt love The Halls of Eternity. Anyone looking for something a little more heavy or serious should probably try out "The Cainian Chronicle" or "Proxima Centauri" instead."