When things begin to distort and transform into something nearly unrecognizable from what we normally expect, that’s when things take a natural turn for the progressive where the very bounds of genre lines between to twist and blur. Even as it stands as the genre of the unexpected and the ever-shifting, there are few that are able to tap into its potentiality for real greatness. Every now and then, we’re delivered an act that manages to act on that splendor even as the bar can easily raise as the years go on. Having started down the path of excellence over ten years ago, the touch of Anciients has yet to wane in its power.

Despite only having two albums to their name, it needs to be made extremely clear that the finest acts can do a tremendous amount with that relative little amount of material, and Anciients is certainly just such a band. Hoewever, it’s been eight years since we last heard new material from Anciients with such a gap something that would inspire doubt as the the integrity within the band, but it’s through adversity and a real passion for the sound that the name has risen to the occasion once again to bring forth a tremendously tasteful work of progressive metal that’s undoubtedly one of the finest works of progressive metal that we’re sure to see in 2024 when all is said and done. An amalgamation of all that Anciients has ever been with their souls cut wide open for us to peer into, “Beyond the Reach of the Sun” is as inspiring as it is dense. From the bleeding hearts of Anciients itself, these ten tracks hold nothing back in so much as a moment of its grand representation of what the name has always been capable of with their particular brand of enrapturing progressive metal nothing to be taken lightly even as the band travels further down the path of their more rock-oriented tendencies. Just shy of an hour in length, “Beyond the Reach of the Sun” puts the listener in the shadows of doubt and the unknown, but it’s by the end that the sun’s warmth can be felt on our shoulders while the whole of the realm beneath us as the power of Anciients elevates us to heights we never thought possible.

While we are almost constantly peppered by different bands throughout many of the different levels of the underground, not often enough are we given visions of true greatness the likes of which we are able to bear witness to with what Anciients has put on display for all of us to see here. From top to bottom and for all that it dares to bring to the table, “Beyond the Reach of the Sun” is magnificence undeniable, plain and simple even if the album is anything but.

“Beyond the Reach of the Sun” releases on August 30th via Season of Mist!

LISTEN to advanced tracks from “Beyond the Reach of the Sun” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Anciients on Facebook here.