Anciients

Progressive Metal - Canada

Anciients Band

You want an album that delivers smoking hot rock and delicious heaviness in equal measure? ‘Voice of the Void’ does exactly that. An avalanche of brilliant riffs comes crashing down your speakers, driven by a relentlessly pounding rhythm section. Vancouver’s ANCIIENTS have no time to spare, no fillers, no hesitation, they are just pushing and pulling and banging those heads from start to finish. With their sophomore opus ‘Voice of the Void’, the Canadians are fulfilling all the glorious promises that ‘Heart of Oak’ (2013) already made. In comparison to their critically acclaimed debut full-length, which already contained the musical equivalent of the warm flow, solid earthiness, and beautifully dark undertones of whisky matured in ancient oak casks within an intoxicating song-writing, the new songs have exponentially boosted the tasty formula unique to this band

ANCIIENTS have remarkably honed their composition skills and moved further into their very own musical territory, which makes it considerably harder to just liken this band to kindred spirits such as MASTODON, KYLESA, BARONESS, THE SWORD, and HIGH ON FIRE and happily drop them into the same box without second thought. Those amazing vocal duels between grim growling and clean singing, which have been brought to perfection, would alone support the constant tension and high dynamics of this record. Yet of course, a barrage of crunchy riffs as their instrumental counterpart maintains the proper balance.

ANCIIENTS were founded in 2009. The outstanding guitarist and vocalist duo Kenneth Paul Cook and Chris Dyck is flanked by Aaron “Boon” Gustafson on bass and drummer Mikey Hannay, who constitutes a mighty powerhouse of quite complex yet heavily driving rhythmical patterns. With the release of their 7″ EP “Snakebeard” (2011) alone, the Canadians were invited to join on the stages of HIGH ON FIRE, GOATWHORE, BORIS and THREE INCHES OF BLOOD. More touring and festivals shows followed the release of highly praised ‘Heart of Oak’, but now ANCIIENTS are ready for the next giant leap of their career. Let ‘Voice of the Void’ rock your mind!

Line-up:

  • Kenneth Paul Cook : Guitar & Vocals
  • Brock MacInnes : Guitar
  • Aaron 'Boon' Gustafson : Bass
  • Mike Hannay : Drums
Posted on January 11, 2024

Since winning a coveted JUNO for their last album in 2018, Anciients have been whittling away at their follow-up. That album is done now and will be released later this year. But before the hard-rocking Canucks come down from the mountain with a new set of genre-breaking commandments for the psychedelic masses, they’re flexing their new lineup with a re-recorded version of a proven fan favorite.

Posted on March 27, 2018

While about to play the final shows of their European tour, ANCIIENTS have won the prestigious JUNO Award, which is the Canadian equivalent of the American Grammy in the category metal/hard rock record for their latest full-length ‘Voice of the Void’.

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