Review: Ancient Vvisdom “Master of the Stone” [Argonauta Records]

The US band Ancient Vvisdom returned with a new album in January this year, released via Argonauta Records, and hit the stage with their kick-ass music.

First of all, it is pretty notable that this album was recorded at Mercinary Studios and features some guest musicians: Vanek of Midnight, Matt of Shed The Skin, and Noah of Nunslaughter. As you can see, there are two things: all the bands play various metal genres but are united by the fact that all of them play classical/old-school metal. As a result, this album sounds really nice! I have never heard previous Ancient Vvisdom albums, but I fell in love with what I heard here on Master of the Stone!

The album features eight tracks of classic occult rock and doom metal, sometimes mixed with harsh metal vibes. The very first track, “Sold My Soul to Satan,” starts with unexpectedly catchy yet rhythmical tunes. The song is really hard-hitting, with marching and twisted rhythms, and without a single second of quiet emotion, just a massive wall of sound. Starting from the next track, “The Adversary,” the album becomes partially quieter. The following tracks sound good and catchy as well, with measured heavy rhythms, pretty interesting clean vocals, and a good number of tempo changes.

Of course, you can guess my favorite track is “Sold My Soul to Satan,” but I love the entire album. Some other highlights are “Apollyon” (a great song with a cool, doomy sound), the acoustic “World’s Demise” which has 2 minutes and 39 seconds of quiet music, vocally reminding me of Tiamat, “Ashes From On High” which comes with such marching and catchy rhythms, and “Master of the Stone,” which sounds more doom metal-oriented, with a heavy rhythm section, creepy guitar solos, and harsh vocals mixed with a clean voice. The rest of the tracks are very good as well! By the way, the last track, “The Devil’s Sermon,” comes as an acoustic close-up of the album.

In conclusion, Master of the Stone is a good album within the occult rock and doom metal music genres. The musicians crafted music with massive, partially atmospheric, memorable tunes and an occult atmosphere.

I think fans of Ghost, Danzig, Pentagram, Cathedral, and Blue Öyster Cult should like this one!