BLOOD CEREMONY — Living With the Ancients (review)

BLOOD CEREMONY — Living With the Ancients album cover Album · 2011 · Traditional Doom Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
FMOTP
The reason I love websites like MMA and its sister site Prog Archives is because I'm always looking for variety. I'm searching for a different combination of elements, something I haven't heard 100 times before. The reason Blood Ceremony is one of my favorite bands at the moment is because they are different from your average "doom metal" band. Alia O'Brien, the singer/ flute player/keyboardist, is the defining element IMO.

I won't describe what their music sounds like, because other reviewers have already done so. Blood Ceremony are far more than just a Black Sabbath clone with a female singer. All three of their releases are well worth checking out, but I'm giving Living with the Ancients 4 stars. Living with the Ancients is a step up from Blood Ceremony's fine debut album. IMO the songwriting has improved. My favorite songs are at the beginning of the album: "The Great God Pan", "Coven Tree", "The Hermit", "Morning of the Magicians". As someone with Asperger's Syndrome, my attention span is naturally short, so it may be that those four songs just appear first!

However, the album is consistently good throughout. The band sustains their songs, which tend to be long by FM radio standards, better than on their first album. The only real complaint I have is that I would like to hear more of Alia O'Brien's skillful flute playing. Her singing, while it doesn't display a significant range, is good and suits the music very well. To wrap things up, Living with the Ancients is a four star album IMO. If you a fan of first generation hard rock, and you've worn out your Uriah Heep records, you'll have a good time with Living with the Ancients.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
adg211288 wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Great review, I must have missed this one when you first posted it. I love everything this band has done so far. This one was my proper introduction to their stuff though (I had heard Hop Toad from the debut beforehand but the debut ended up being the last album for me to hear by them) and is certainly responsible for my love of female fronted doom/hard rock/psych music. You should try out Purson if you don't know them. Not doom or metal, but they're quite similar on the psych side of things.

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Rot Stink Rip Death Metal
TOMBSTONER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Human Rosin Melodic Metalcore
HATE BREEDER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Through The Hell Hardcore Punk
ENEMY 906
Buy this album from MMA partners
Lightmatter: Rebirth Deathcore
EARTHGAZER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Eye Of Horus (Lightmatter EP Pt. 2) Deathcore
EARTHGAZER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Agremorta - Adrocitas (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 4 days ago
Agremorta - Ploratus Umbra (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 4 days ago
Agremorta - Vertex Membrana (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 4 days ago
HAIL SPIRIT NOIR - The Temple Of Curved Space (Official Track Stream)
HAIL SPIRIT NOIR
adg211288· 4 days ago
In Sulfur - The Gate (OFFICIAL VIDEO) 2022
IN SULFUR
Bosh66· 5 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed