Review: Ancient Torment “Follow the Echo of Curses” [Eternal Death]

The great passing on – life’s precious embers finally extinguished by Death’s icy grip, and nothing to show for it but time so frivolously wasted. The mystery of death is a haunting curse; one that holds all of us in a state of dreadful spellbinding. And as the seconds spill into hours, the hours into days and the days into years, there’s this longing – a yearning for just a sliver of hope beyond the border that separates thriving from decay. A concept boldly explored by Ancient Torment within their long-awaited debut LP, Follow the Echo of Curses – a volume of deathly exploration – set in stone for an August 1 release via Eternal Death.

Follow the Echo of Curses is no maligned affair. Richly produced, melodic and balanced is this recording. Supple like silk in regard to engineering. Musically gripping in its melodious nature. The current Sargeist era and “Aamongondr” era Satanic Warmaster is the aesthetic here. Mid-tempo’d melodies rolling fluidly into swift, streamlined progressions; both carrying you willingly into the realm of where life & death rendezvous. “Hanging from a Dead Star” is the opening track. A summation of everything this band is capable of and it’s only the beginning. A USBM album that homages the Suomi way, and that couldn’t be more relevant here. A delicate touch to every phase. What was no-doubt a power-based contribution from all members is softened to the point of moist palatability by careful engineering. A brilliant synergy of maniacal screams, feverish riffing patterns and galloping rhythms.

No war paint for these fellas, no spikes and no bullet-belts, for that is not the USBM way. Here, it’s the music that does the speaking, and the message is dread. The hidden inner beauty of yearning as realized by music of the most moving kind. The momentum of it is like a freight train. The sonic tapestry is like a humid blanket of sound that’s been meticulously woven. “Sorrow Verses” – slowing things down a bit here, but only for a few moments before the onslaught continues. Shades of Horna’s “Nyx – Hymnejä Yölle” LP – “Hymni II” and “Hymni III” to be more specific. The same alluring hooks, only sped up to the point that you feel as if you’re soaring; soaring over the moments, the days and the seasons of your life as they play out beneath you; unfolding like a reel.

To die without regrets should be everyone’s goal, but how can it be accomplished? How can one lie in their death bed in a state of satisfaction when his life has been so shallow? “Dejected Dreams Molested in Purgatory” hits like despair – a great epiphany of an entire lifetime lived for things that now seem so trivial. Heart sinking, innards churning and this sense of panic now that the end is nigh can all be felt here. So far, “Follow the Echo of Curses” has been a memorable experience to say the least.

Follow the Echo of Curses culminates with “Rotting Temperament” – 9:00 worth of everything that has made for such a great record: epic, racing and urgent. There’s been not one iota of pretension or of anything boring. A relentless-in-its-energy excursion into the sphere of existential crisis has been the experience. Can you hear it? True Black Metal’s siren song drawing you ever-nearer toward the end of what’s been a soul-stirring album from Ancient Torment. Follow the Echo of Curses has been a long time coming, and it’s an album to be proud of. What an accomplishment! What a statement of a debut. Hail Ancient Torment! Hail true USBM.

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