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Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Ancient Oak - "Den Siste Bastion" (2013)

ANCIENT OAK "Den Siste Bastion"

Year: 2013 
Genre: Black/Pagan Metal
Country: Russia

Track List:
  1. Intro
  2. Надежда
  3. Хвойные слезы
  4. Кровь отцов
  5. Чистое сердце
  6. Лес умрет, и ты вместе с ним
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The newest release of this Moscow-based one-man project. Honestly I have mixed feeling about it. First of all, it definitely would be better if his music remained instrumental: the vocal work on this album is apparently weak (which is probably the biggest downside of the whole release), as well as the quality of the lyrics. Don't get me wrong, I love when a black/pagan metal project is so politically/environmentally aware, but: 1) these lyrics look just like they were written in a hurry; 2) what's good for crust isn't always that good for pagan metal. Other than that, it's a pretty solid release. Despite the amateur quality of production, it shows that Ancient Oak is no less talented than a lot of well-known metal bands. "Den Siste Bastion" is obviously influenced by Scandinavian folk/viking metal, but there are also elements of blackened crust and dark hardcore. According to the release notes, the man behind Ancient Oak don't want his music to be distributed by anyone who promotes any kind of discrimination, but any kind of support and feedback is welcome (unfortunately there wasn't any contact info).

3 comments :

  1. disappointed to hear there are vocals on this, always enjoyed his instrumental only sound

    ReplyDelete
  2. should i download this? embrace of death is a great album

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't know, really. Musically it isn't bad at all too, it's the vocals that put me off.

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