The rock ‘n’ roll landscape is still shaking from the news: after eight years of searching, Anciients have emerged from the Canadian wilderness. The heady and hearty Canucks recently announced Beyond the Reach of the Sun, their first album since winning the coveted JUNO Award for Metal/Hard Rock.
Today, Kenny Cook, Mike Hannay and their new cast of shredders are releasing a smooth but still positively crushing guitar playthrough for their new album’s second single. “Cloak of the Vast and Black” sheds light on the darkness that nearly overshadowed Beyond the Reach of the Sun by blazing a new trail with the same spirit that’s made them a guiding light for progressive metal.
Watch the guitar playthrough for “Cloak of the Vast and Black”.
Beyond the Reach of the Sun comes out August 30, 2024 on Season of Mist.
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https://orcd.co/anciientsbeyondthereachofthesun
Ask any hard rock enthusiast about Anciients and their shock and awe might lead you to believe they were describing Big Foot. The band left a sizable imprint on the scene after just two albums, but then seemingly disappeared without a trace. So what led them to go into hibernation?
“Basically, right after Voice of the Void was recorded my wife had our first kid”, says Kenny Cook, who on top of vocal and guitar duties also handles the bulk of the band’s songwriting. “She ended up having heart complications and almost died”. Everyone is happy and healthy now, but caring for his wife and new baby put a lot of stress on the typically laid-back frontman’s mountainous shoulders. “It was a bit of a road”.
“Cloak of the Vast and Black” also comes out of the shadows. The first single from Beyond the Reach of the Sun began by leading us through a field of bright keys and folksy acoustic plucks, but this time around, the guitars are so dimmed with reverb that even the leads twist and turn as if trying to navigate maze-like cave tunnels.
“This song is about mental illness and living under the cloak of depression”, Cook says. But despite the many bumps in the road over the last eight years, like the high beams of a monster truck, Anciients found a way to come barreling out of the darkness. Just as the playthrough video bursts into full-blown color, the band strike upon a riff that burns as fast as a stick of dynamite.
“Searching for a new way of life“, Cook growls with renewed force, as if woken by the sudden explosion of psychedelic power chords.
The concept behind Beyond the Reach of the Sun does venture into heady territory. Society is enslaved by forces from another dimension who are so towering in their tyranny that they blot out the sun. Still, at its core, Anciient’s third album is about perseverance. Cook’s road is a little easier to envision. “Working on these songs helped clear the negativity that had clouded my thoughts”, he says. But the albums’ narrative arc winds up floating in the same enlightened headspace.
“Ancient knowledge buried deep in the sands of time“, Cook sings, practically beaming as Dead Quiet axeman Brock MacInnes shreds a dizzying alternate path right beside him. “Awake on the other side“.
Of course, headbanging helped, but Cook credits his bandmates for helping him see through Beyond the Reach of the Sun. Mike Hannay can still kick down the door to any metalhead’s mind with a well-timed blast beat, but by the time “Cloak of the Vast and Black” finally tapers off, he’s locked into such a massive flow state with new bassist Rory O’Brien, that Anciients sound like pre-historic giants who’ve returned to roam the earth.
“The hiatus is over” Cook says. “We missed out on a huge block after the last record. But with a new album to go along with our new band members, we’re ready to hit it hard“.
The video for the guitar playthrough of “Cloak of the Vast and Black” was directed, filmed and edited by Claine Gorgoth Lamb (@claines_world).
More Praise for Anciients
“Heady stuff…arch-synthesists, cleverly appropriating a number of familiar, inter-related genres to fuse into a seamless ethos” – Metal Injection
“Proggy, sludgy and downright rocking” – Angry Metal Guy
“When the riffs rumble out of the speakers, you’re moving” – No Clean Singing
“Combining powerful drumming with Thin Lizzy inspired riffs, while sounding like the musical equivalent of Game of Thrones” – Echoes and Dust
“Parts progressive finesse, classic rock grandstanding and grass-roots bludgeon” – PopMatters
