You don't get too many of these to the Pound. Here we have an album that fills the box with as much contrivance as it can without splitting narrow genre constraints at the seams. ANCESTRAL VOLKHVES have gathered their own sound despite aspects of familiarity and have succeeded in adding stark embellishment to ensure music that is cold yet driven.

“Son O Iriyi” is another of those albums you listen to once and think “Not bad,” and then the more you listen to it and allow its nooks and crannies to be revealed the more you tend to think “Not fucking bad at all!” ANCESTRAL VOLKHVES start this album in martial fashion with stern guitar work and militant drumming which makes the contrast of “Svantovit Perun” all the more emphatic. This track fires off casting blue sparks as its racing tempo sucks in and spits out folkish melody, carried by both rhythm and lead. At over seven minutes, this song has the lot, driving melodies, avalanches of guitar and barren moor slower sections to name just one or two of the positives.

The bass and drums on this album are just as expressive as the guitar and vocals, the bass really makes its presence known roundly rumbling along and making it's own mark, often in counterpoint to the six strings. The drumming is excellent, when blasting, buildings will collapse, but that ain't half the story. There are all manner of interesting drum riffs beating your bonce on “Son O Iriyi”. None of the kit will feel left out cos all of it gets as much stick as possible and all of it in a relatively fresh and inventive fashion.

One of the band's strengths is the ability to keep the pressure on without feeling the need to keep proceedings at warp factor 10. There are plenty of sections that power by at such pace that they'll draw the air from your lungs, but equally there are many stone faced slower parts that make this a truly black-hearted experience. The simplistic lead accentuations shove the body of the music into the cold room and chuck away the key. Often these songs serve to leech away any positive emotions other than the enjoyment of the listening experience, even the dour lilt that attempts to lift the final third of “Thus Speak To Gamayun” can only offer an insipid grey light.

The regally haunting deep spoken word that richly echoes over the speedier sections of “Gromoverzhcu – Bogu Peranu” adds to the sense of ancient power you would expect Pagan Black Metal to evoke. Used judiciously in contrast to the rasping shriek of the mainstay vocals it shows just another string to A.V's bow, of which there are many. If any band brought to mind granite with veins of metallic ore rusting along its fissures, it would be this unsmiling bunch.

This is a draining experience to some degree, you feel that sunshine is a long distant memory but perversely this will just keep you praying for more rain and toss in some more of that thunder, gales and lightning whilst you’re at it.

(Online November 23, 2006)