Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Ancient Dome – Cosmic Gateway To Infinity

Ancient Dome plays thrash metal and hails from the new capital of thrash: Italy. These guys are actually one of the longer standing and more prolific Italian thrash groups. They’ve been around since 2000, and “Cosmic Gateway To Infinity” marks their third full-length record. As the title and album art give away, Ancient Dome take a different thematic approach than many of their peers. This album is based around interstellar travel and other similar topics. While many would expect this lyrical direction means more technical music, Ancient Dome takes a different approach. The music is no more or less technical than the standard thrash affair; however, it is somewhat more melodic. On “Cosmic Gateway To Infinity”, the use of melody comes more from the vocals than the guitars (though the guitars are not absent of melody either). Singer Jerry De Feo manages to inject plenty of singing alongside his thrash grunt. This is most obvious in the chorus of the opener, “N.I.F. (New Interstellar Force)”, but is relatively prominent throughout most of the record, and is particularly noticeable in many of the choruses.

As the album continues on, it becomes clear that Ancient Dome truly does have a bit more experience than their peers. They manage to avoid many of the pitfalls of thrash, while providing their own unique sound. Although this album is fast, it never reaches absurd speeds, and the fact that this record still manages to be quite enjoyable in spite of its speed and melody is a testament to songwriting talents of the members of Ancient Dome. The song structures occasionally seem a bit dense, but that’s all the more reason to keep listening to the record to discover new layers to each track. The only one that will be immediately memorable upon first listen is the aforementioned "N.I.F. (New Interstellar Force)", but none of the songs are bad. From a production standpoint, everything is up to par. The mixing sounds good, and though the bass isn’t the most prominent, it isn’t impossible to hear. There isn’t too much more that needs to be said about “Cosmic Gateway To Infinity” because it’s a really solid release. The band manages to sound unique within the confines of a relatively restricted subgenre of metal, and although this album doesn’t necessarily stack up with the greats, it is a worthy listen for any major fans of thrash. 

Be sure to check out and like Ancient Dome on Facebook!

Highlights
"N.I.F. (New Interstellar Force)"
"A Sea of Stars"
"Cosmic Gateway to Infinity"

Final Rating
4.0/5 or 80%. 

Written by Scott

No comments:

Post a Comment