Hailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Ancient Thrones’ second album, Melancholia not only cherry picks from a sturdy stable of metallic subgenres — from the melodic, blackened and textural to the technical, exploratory and unhinged — but is also ground zero for an interesting concept/story. The record’s nine songs tell the story of a colourblind individual who dives head first into psychedelic drug use as a last ditch attempt to experience life in colour. The album chronicles everything they experience in the process as life goes on with their newly minted perceptual capabilities. Given that it’s an extreme metal album, we can only surmise that the story doesn’t end on a particularly happy note, but you can find out for yourself via the stream of Melancholia we’re running below, a single day before its release date.
Says the band about their latest work: “Melancholia is an aggressive display of death metal without borders. Every song explores a different terrain of extreme music that flows with the narrative of our character on his last attempt to see colour during an ever-spiralling, anxiety filled psychedelic journey. We intended to strip away every ounce of hope that was hinted at in our previous record, and shatter the illusion of a happy ending. We also set out to pay homage to the bands that shaped us, The Black Dahlia Murder and The Red Chord. The album captures a time now lost, and crumbles into itself in its final moments to cement that idea. That this is a meditation of existential exhaustion, shaped by intensity, and carefully crafted to deliver a painful message. That message is Melancholia.”
Melancholia by Ancient Thrones
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