Ancient Death – Ego Dissolution (Review)

This is the debut album from US death metal band Ancient Death.

I missed this back in April, but it’s come repeatedly recommended to the point where I had to check it out. I’m glad I did. Ego Dissolution contains 35 minutes of vibrant classic death metal, played so well that I can easily see why Ancient Death have created a bit of a buzz around themselves.

Ancient Death’s style is a surprisingly multifaceted one. It’s built on firm old-school progressive and technical foundations – 90s death metal influences and sounds are undeniably the most obvious thing to think of here, although Ancient death build on what came before them with talented skill. In this way, if you think of Ego Dissolution as a mix of aspects of bands such as Atheist, Blood Incantation, Bolt Thrower, The Chasm, and Death, you won’t go far wrong. It’s an interesting combination of influences, one that comes together very well across Ego Dissolution‘s lean running time.

Ancient Death boast a multitude of killer riffs, blistering solos, and twisted melodies. They create otherworldly atmosphere with ease, throw out barbed hooks like it’s 1990, and thoroughly nail the sound they’ve gone for. Ancient Death seem to have mastered how to combine a lot of different things into a tight collection of songs, while maintaining consistently high quality levels. Ego Dissolution is a very accomplished death metal album, with more ideas in a single song than many bands have in their entire careers. Honestly, it’s just great stuff.

Despite having so many obvious assets – and strong ones too – Ego Dissolution is best experienced over time. Multiple spins start to properly reveal the intricacies and nuances of the well-written music, allowing the depth and substance of the songs to really become apparent. There’s a largely superfluous interlude track, (because of course there is), but even this is better than average.

Ego Dissolution is a top death metal album. Varied, richly textured, imbued with emotive depth, and delivered by a band that clearly know exactly what they are doing, this a ridiculously strong release. This is a record of death metal soundscapes you will not want to miss out on exploring. I’m late to the party, so don’t be like me and wait until later to hear any more about how essential this is – spend some time with Ancient Death today.