Ancestors - Neptune With Fire (2008)

Ancestors - Neptune With Fire (2008)

October 24th, 2008
"Whoa....Om, you've just been pwned."

That was the sole note I left about Neptune With Fire after my first listen to it, meant to express my immediate appreciation for this album in comparison to my lukewarm opinion of Om, one of Ancestors' musical peers. Like Om, Ancestors specialize in epic, 15+ minute progressive/stoner/doom metal marathons. It's a risky format, as it only gives the band room for two to four songs per album, meaning the album becomes a real drag if any of those songs falter at any moment. And don't even think about trying to recover from one bad track. There's just no room for filler. Om, however, have become quite good at providing an awesome opening track that ends up desperately trying to carry the aimless, less interesting music that follows. Ancestors, thankfully, avoid such mistakes. Two tracks. Both fantastic.

The opening title track starts off with a heavy stoner rock section with vocals (sounding a tad like Electric Wizard's Jus Oborn) before lapsing into a psychedelic, effects-laden guitar solo, which then builds back into heavy rock territory for the climax. The pacing throughout is excellent, as even at 17-minutes long it still feels too short. The even more epic "Orcus' Avarice" begins with church organs before launching it's low-end, slow rolling guitar attack. Though instead of going again with the loud-quiet-loud structure, the track eventually introduces a ghostly, almost operatic female vocal part to close out the song's last third on an unexpected dramatic note. In simple terms: it rocks.

Neptune With Fire is a stunning debut by Ancestors. So powerful in execution that not even cheesy lyrical themes and my least favorite Arik Roper cover art in a while can hold it back from greatness.


Score: 9/10


"Orcus' Avarice" (excerpt)