metalhead gallery

Genre: Black Metal

Metal Archives Rating: 80%

1. The Beginning
2. The Sleep Within
3. At the Other Side
4. As the Shadows Dance

Download at Mediafire
Ancient Wisdom at Myspace
Read a Review

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Ancient Wisdom are probably one of my favorite bands, so I thought I'd share their demo as Ancient, before the name change. This is a magnificent start for an incredible band that would go on to increase in fame, all of it rightly and justly deserved. The demo starts off a bit aggressive, and I actually mistook it for a Death Metal demo because of the eerily out of place riff toward the beginning of the first song. That didn't last, though, and the the demo soon kicks into their classic slow, doomy riffing style. Atmosphere is and always has been their specialty, with a lone guitar lead, providing mystic and entrancing riffs flirting with dooooooom. However, sometimes it seems like Ancient don't know what they want to do on this demo and occasionally pick up the pace for some more furious parts that really don't suit them that well. But that's not the point; the appeal behind this demo is to see where this band started and what sorts of styles they were contemplating playing in the future. A great demo for a great band, and just a tremendously interesting look into their past.