UMUR
Neptune with Fire is the debut full-length studio album by American (Los Angeles, California) doom/ stoner metal act Ancestors. The album was released in February 2008 by North Atlantic Sound.
The music on the album is predominantly instrumental/ jamming doom/ stoner metal. There are vocals on the album ( and some pretty great ones too) but the music is mostly instrumental. Neptune with Fire consists of only two tracks, but both tracks exceed 15 minutes in length to make the album´s playing time 38:40 minutes. In addition to guitars, bass, drums and vocals there are two keyboard players in the lineup playing organ, various keyboards and electronics. It´s all very tasteful though and the album has a very organic sound. Because of the very long playing times, the two songs have a lot of time to develop, but while both tracks go through a couple of transitions during the playing time, there are actually very few sections in each song. Most sections go on for a long time, while solos are being played. So if you enjoy laid back and pleasant sounding jamming stoner metal Neptune with Fire is definitely recommendable.
Neptune with Fire is a good album with great musicianship and a warm organic production, but the songwriting could have been a bit more focused if you ask me. My attention has a tendency to wander when the solos ( which are well played but not flashy or especially adventurous) just go on and on and on. Fans of the genre might appreciate the jamming element more than I do though. A 3 star rating is warranted.