There is a special breed of bands, which while being around for quite some time, for some strange reason go below my radar and you can count ANCIENT EMPIRE in that pack. After more than a decade of active existence, with the remarkable six studio albums behind their back (productivity reminding of the bands from the golden era of the 80ties American thrash and speed metal scene), nowadays I encounter the Californian quarter performing a very unconventional career manoeuvre – releasing remastered versions of some of their early productions, putting some exclusive bonus tracks as an icing on the cake. Furthermore, the product is polished with redesigned booklet, revised cover artwork and coming in a collector version of only 500 copies worldwide. Is this just a genuine marketing tactic to attract attention or it’s the true reinvention of their sophomore studio creation – we’re just about to find out.

“Fight Another Day” hails us with symphonic intro to transform in a solid riff and introduce the listener in the other world of the album. The rhythmic vocals are in synergy with the guitar work, heating up the engines, pumping power metal dose in our veins. Kind of classical opener, that highlights the artistic direction to follow and put us in an exited headbanging mood. “Dark Before the Dawn” kicks in with laser-piercing prelude, morphing in a marching tempo of the verse, though this initial theme remains dominant for the rest of the song. The feeling is gradually epic, vocals get more rigid, to shout out the track title as a peak emotional point of the chorus. By far this is more sophisticated and complex composition compared to the intro, if like the band mastery is evolving with each note played.

Power metal, anyone? Well, in “Embrace the Horror” we find tons of it. Heavy riff hitting us in the face from the very first moment, drums showing no remorse and melodic vibe of the lead singer, elevate the mood to new hights. The chorus is energetic, elegant and full of drive. It’s no brainer, that here the band is dearly embracing the best examples of early 2000’s European power metal counterparts, those who were dominating the live stages after the revival of the sub-genre. The gradual progression in instrumental mastery demonstrated is pitching for even more potential and really curious to see how far would ANCIENT EMPIRE reach in developing their style. No way to resist the pumping intro into “Resistance” and the surge of vivacity that springs out of this one. The vocals tell encaptivating story which takes you to the highs and lows of the hero’s journey to lead you to the edge of sanity and throw you right in the middle of an ocean of a virtuoso solo. The spirit of the song is naturally humane, blasting courage and inspiring hope.

The construct of the album is already taking shape and it’s time for the title track! “Other World” is composed to take us by storm and twist our souls in the wild whirlwind of speed metal meat grinder with the power narrative so typical for the band. No doubt this is a special place in the release and probably the peak of ANCIENT EMPIRE’s quest to conquer the minds and hearts. Really vibrant, solid and congruent guitar work, harmonizing with a bit more high-pitched vocals, often changing tempo and beat. Variety is king here, leaving no senses untouched. Without being and expert in the band’s background, would reckon this is one of the anthems that their fanbase is most fanatically cheering for. “Shadows of War” and “The Forsaken” (being slower and anthem-like) carry on the torch of storytelling, making sure the futuristic synopsis is kept in line. In musical terms both songs are a perfectly aligned rational extension of the title track following the already established exuberant stylistic and profuse dynamics. It’s remarkable how the band portraits the conceptual theme of the album, trying to emphasise the names of the songs in almost every chorus. For sure this brings old-school sympathies and puts a big smile to the faces of the “old guard” members, used to this approach from the early years of heavy music.

The galaxy is gearing on for the grand finale and the dominance of “The Empire of Men!” This seven-minute saga engages in a fiction film style with sounds of the void abruptly broken by the blast of power metal proton torpedoes. No compromises here and the quartet is launching their final attack, frontal charge against all that stays on their way. After the initial assault the tempo is getting bit more moderate and exquisite guitar work results to be the most striking weapon of choice. Similarly, to the title track, the pace is often changing in harmony with the lyrics and rhythm section. In no way we can accuse ANCIENT EMPIRE in lack of creativity or artistic imagination here and they successfully manage to bring this to a glorious ending, to carry on roaming the Universe in their ironclad star ship.

But wait a minute! What about those three bonuses!? Hang on to your shorts, folks, as I am going to reveal the last piece of the puzzle. Deep down in my mind I was secretly placing bets will the first bonus track “Lost City” result an integral part of the album plot or just some random song, recorded and released as a typical filler? And bingo! The guys didn’t let me down pulling out a kind of aftermath sequel of the whole “Other World” chronicle. The sound, riffs and vocal expression sound as a natural part of the authentic release, fitting like a glove in every aspect. No clue on the faith of this one and if it’s just a leftover from the original release or more modern-day creation, but definitely much better adding it now, than never, since it has a genuine place amongst its siblings.

Finally, what’s a bonus pack without a cover and a live gig recording? Surprisingly or not so, in the cover box we find one of the most covered American metal hits ever – “Wild Child” by W.A.S.P. The interpretation of ANCIENT EMPIRE is a bit raw , the sound is clunky as in a high-school band demo tape, yet doesn’t follow the cliché pattern to just imitate the original. Kudos for that! Similar goes for the live bonus – “Endless Curse” which is not the best example of production when we think of stage performance. Let’s assume this is an implicit bridge to their next studio album – “The Tower” (also remastered and reviewed on our site), where the song occupies second position after the opening title track.

CONCLUSION

The introductory encounter with ANCIENT EMPIRE, in the form of there mastered and bonus track version of their sophomore album “Other World” leaves me with kind of mixed emotions. On one hand there is this really genuine drive to deliver a captivating conceptual album, with futuristic space thematic, where some brilliant songs and music ideas clearly stand out, easily getting under your skin. And on the other, the majority of the recording sounds kind of flat, with repeating patterns and visible attempt to recreate some of the European power metal manners, refracted through Californian prism. Which is not necessarily a bad thing and if there must be some final moral of the story is that definitely the juice of getting remastered and revisited format of this album is definitely worth the squeeze.

THENWOTHM SCORE: 7.5/10

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