ANCIENT SETTLERS
“Oblivion’s Legacy”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

9.5/10

Ancient Settlers are an internationally based melodic death metal band formed in 2020 releasing their debut album ‘Our Last Eclipse’ in 2022, with sophomore album ‘Oblivion’s Legacy’ emerging in 2024…

…and how times have changed! For me at least…’cause I never used to be that into melodic death metal, even though a former colleague of mine Vincent Maylen – better known as “Death Metal Maylen” – was forever trying to get me to listen to more death and melodic death, often greeting me by way of a howling death metal growl! We’re both thrash metal fans though, with a taste for The Big 4 (Anthrax, Megadeth, Metallica and Slayer), Teutonic Four (Kreator, Sodom, Destruction and Tankard), and everything in-between, yet when it came to death metal it was always a defiant no from me! Until recently, when I decided to give melodic death another go, beginning with Arch Enemy’s latest release ‘Deceivers’, followed by a second listen to Lutharo, and their new album ‘Chasing Euphoria’. And by crikey readers, I couldn’t quite believe how much my tastes have changed! My ears too, for I found both these albums attractive, addictive, and moreish! So here I am, reviewing a third melodic death metal album – ‘Oblivion’s Legacy’ from international outfit Ancient Settlers – making it three in less than two years! I guess the constant “growling” from Vincent has finally turned me…

…on to a form of metal music that I never really favoured! Ancient Settlers – vocalist Argen Death, bassist Miguel Herrera, drummer Herman Riera, and guitarists Agustin Martinez and Carlos Chiesa – are ferocity unleashed, offering ten hard hitting songs, each and every one loaded to the hilt with thick grooves, heavy riffs, catchy hooks and a gut wrenching display of scowling howls! The album is a concept album “delving into the profound depths of human existence, exploring the legacy we leave behind as individuals and as a species, contemplating the impact of our actions, the struggles we face, and the ultimate fate that awaits us all”. ‘The Circle Of Misanthropy’ gets the album underway with a circus like atmosphere and a ring master speech enticing listeners forward – forward into the depths of hell where Ancient Settlers roar very loudly! ‘Cause at thirty six seconds in all fucking hell is let loose, the band hitting very hard with a deafening cacophony of metal, the growling snarl of singer Argen curdling the airways with immense aggression! Yet as ‘The Circle Of Misanthropy’ progresses, her voice takes on a more traditional heavy metal roar – the incredible vocal range of melodic death metal vocalists still so unbelievable to me!

And although I never really appreciated growled vocals, much preferring the clean and clear style of traditional, and power metal, my realigned ears (and eyes) have been opened wider than ever – the title song ‘Oblivion’s Legacy’ entering the fray with much more aggression than the opening song! The menace oozing from ‘Oblivion’s Legacy’ (the song) is overwhelming, the metal unforgiving, with the vocals swinging from snarling to clean to scowling and back again in the blink of an eye! And with an unwavering certainty, Ancient Settlers march on with the blistering pace of ‘Stardust Odyssey’, the band galloping hard on the plains, devastating everything and everyone foolish enough to stand in their way! And Argen’s vocals here are gonna send some listeners diving for the relative safety of behind the sofa, the scare factor in her voice at an extremely high level! The first ever Ancient Settlers song I heard ‘Wounded Heart’, is a fast paced thrash metal rampage with growled vocals, so it’s no wonder that I was attracted to the bands music! And when Argen switches to clean vocals over the chorus, they only serve to make ‘Wounded Heart’ even more attractive!

And with the most traditional metal feel of any song heard so far, ‘Subversive’ gallops into sight with all the hallmarks of old school heavy metal – the only difference being the growled vocals! Vocals that yet again effortlessly switch to clean and back again, ‘Subversive’ dipping its toes in a number of different genres to keep a very wide range of listeners very happy! And to be honest, “happy” is a word that I never thought I’d use in reference to a melodic death metal album, but there it is, plain as day! Blistering speed makes an emphatic return in the shape of ‘Coven Garden’, powering on with an immense amount of energy, the band mingling the mighty mid tempo foot stomping style of thrash into ‘Coven Garden’s framework – Ancient Settlers anything but settled, much preferring to fly around the genres of death, melodic death, thrash and traditional metal! I hope the band are getting air miles – ‘The Mechanical Threats Paradox’ maintaining the albums multi genre metal assault! And at pace too, the mosh pits turning frenzied with this one, Ancient Settlers providing top level head bang ability to every metalhead everywhere!

There’s just no stopping the savage barrage of brutality from the band, ‘The Last Battle In The Earth’ opening with an immense menacing feel and clean vocals, only for the band to do a one eighty and resume their ferocious onslaught! And to be brutally honest here, Argen’s vocals are at their most angelic, soaring to heights normally reserved for symphonic metal – the singers range getting wider and wider! How is that even possible? Well it must be, for I’ve heard it with my own ears – ‘Cosmic Farewell’ entering the fray with the most mellow passage featured on the album, progressing to meld aggression, menace, clean and growled vocals with a surprisingly melodious edge! It seems like Ancient Settlers don’t just want to be seen as a melodic death metal band, incorporating many different styles of metal within their sonic arsenal, akin to the more modern and increasingly popular sub genre “modern metal”. And bringing ‘Oblivion’s Legacy’ (the album) to a close, ‘Redemption’ chimes in as the longest song on offer, regaling listeners one more time with the bands diverse range of metal leanings. Everything the band have in their locker is on show here, from death to traditional metal, growled vocals to clean, menace to melodic and a few surprises in-between.

Overall, an energy driven array of varying metal styles featuring snarling growled vocals over a ferocious musical backdrop.

TRACKLIST

The Circle Of Misanthropy
Oblivion’s Legacy
Stardust Odyssey
Wounded Heart
Subversive
Coven Garden
The Mechanical Threats Paradox
The Last Battle In The Earth
Cosmic Farewell
Redemption

https://www.ancientsettlers.com
https://www.facebook.com/AncientSettlers

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