Ancient Obliteration - A Menacing Reality [Full length] (2010, Self-released)

It's very VERY hard to come up with something new and to stand out in metal. Starting in the early 70's with roots as far back as mid-to-late 60's metal has been made in so many different ways with so many different elements, themes, ideas and atmospheres that to bring something new to the table is close to impossible. Since the 80's we've seen bands introducing completely foreign and weird elements to classic metal genres, like crazy instrumentation, uncanny time signatures and components that would usually be called either unfitting or down right stupid.

A band that can be said to completely disregard traditions and the conventions of metal is Ancient Obliteration. With a handful of releases under their belt the Canadian quartet have proven that alien elements in traditional death/thrash metal isn't necessarily just there to stand out. But stand out they do, and it took a few listens to the album "A Menacing Reality" to get used to the strange tendencies of their truly unearthly tunes.

Equipped with strong and interesting riffs and completely ignoring the vocal tendencies of modern bands Ancient Obliteration manage to carve a small niche for themselves in the dark depths of metal. Incorporating lots of traditional death and thrash metal constituents like thrashy bass lines and vocals that take from both death metal and crossoverish thrash the four-man band has found several elicit ways to evoke my interest with they utter weirdness.

The very heavy focus of the grittily produced album has a certain way to make the listener slighty rock one's head to the music without even noticing. While the 10-tracked album isn't exactly rich in detail it makes for interesting listening. The wholesome flow and mostly well-fitted songs makes me think of bands like Macabre, Nocturnus, Ghoul and occassionally even Gwar and if you're a fan of any of those bands you should probably give Ancient Obliteration a listen. 7/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Intro
2. Radiated Overlords
3. Look Inside Yourself
4. Seeking the Slimegod
5. Professor of Black Magic
6. Intermission
7. Giant Devilfish
8. Lust for the Curse
9. Pagan Rape
10. Hunted and Deranged in this Bleak Zone

Visit Ancient Obliteration on Facebook and Bandcamp