Ancient Wisdom’s second album is unusually slow and doomy black metal. All sounds are clearly distinguishable in the professional production. Perhaps not surprisingly for a one-man band, each of the instruments blend together seamlessly in the compositions of these songs, as in unison, without any discordance between the two guitars and the bass, driven by an unified idea and purpose.

The bass lines are heavy and carry the flow of the song, underneath the slightly more expressive guitars, in a manner that brought doom metal immediately to my mind. The guitar riffs reminded me of Katatonia, in their slowly moving repetition above the mid-paced more variable drumbeats, but lacking the same sense of melodic expression. The vocals could be described as "screams", somewhere between Quorthon rasp and Varg Vikernes torture. Keyboards are used sparingly, but even then, I did not always catch their purpose. Rather than forming a background of atmosphere during the songs, the synths appear at introductions and interludes, impersonating pianos and strings in self-indulgent gothic/neo-classical patterns. Between the heavy, low, doom repetition of the guitars and the melodramatic wanderings of the keys and the vocals, an uneasy compromise is born. Pain and damnation meet something gloomy but romantic, in this music and I find it more annoying that atmosphere- or thought-evoking. The feeling of doom is neutralized by the occasional death-rock touches in the melodies that one could expect on a Dissection record, and every ounce of force and energy in this music is neutralized by the plodding pace. Quite un-wise, I would say.

© 1999 black hate