Ancient Rites "The Diabolic Serenades" Cassette

Official cassette version limited 200 copies with deluxe booklet!!

The debut of Ancient Rites was released in 1994 and it is hardly comparable with the last efforts of the Belgians. To a large extent, the instrumentation was reduced to the essentials. Keyboards, flutes or further more or less unusual instruments were missing. The guys just played black metal with some thrash influences. The whipping drums set the pace in a furious manner. It seems as if drummer and co-composer Walter Van Cortenberg wanted to see some necks breaking. His performance profited from the powerful mix. Guitars and drums were on an equal footing while the bass guitar played a minor role. But from my point of view, this was no problem. Finally, the menacing vocal performance of Gunter Theys fulfilled its purpose in a convincing manner. All in all, the mix created a dark aura and reinforced the band´s musical way of proceeding. Better still, the debutants had already reached a more than solid level of musicianship.
The songs scored with fury and straightness. Of course, tempo changes were integrated, but they did not appear as an end in itself. The song patterns were easily comprehensible. As a consequence of this approach, "The Diabolic Serenades" enthused me right from the beginning. But this does not mean that the full-length became boring after a few runs. Strong riffs and the necessary amount of unholy melodies led to a long-lasting listening pleasure. Ancient Rites did not play the most radical form of black metal and they were clever enough to avoid icy guitars and restlessly battering drums. There was no need for the band members to disguise themselves as Norwegian clones. Instead, the chorals of the first section of "Longing for the Ancient Kingdom" reminded me slightly of the Italian Bulldozer. This was surprising enough.
Today the ambitious band is well-known for the usually successful integration of medieval elements. But on its debut, the Middle Ages were of minor importance. Leaving the antique sounds of the brief outro out of consideration, only the intro of "Morbid Glory (Gilles de Rais 1404-1440)" pointed in this direction. Nevertheless, the lyrics already dealt with historical topics and song titles like "Obscurity Reigns (Fields of Flanders)" were able to inspire my fantasy. The band indicated its intellectual potential without leaving the path of natural black metal.
The song material did not lack of rawness and directness. Its highlights were the straight "Death Messiah" and the more varied "Land of Frost & Despair". In view of their highly memorable riffs, both shine with a rarely heard kind of black catchiness. But each and every song added value to this captivating debut. I appreciate the open-minded later recordings of the band, but I also like their here presented more spontaneous approach. It offers that certain iota of intolerance and to quote their neighbours from the Netherlands, the very strong Infinity: black metal is intolerance. I agree. Thus, if you want to get familiar with the black roots of Ancient Rites, do not hesitate to buy this homogeneous album. Its amazingly mature mixture of grimness and melodies leaves almost nothing to be desired.

Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...