Ancient Rites remind me of Sodom's "Persecution Mania" days as they have a dark/black sound combined with aggressive early euro - death. Least to say this makes Ancient Rites a very cool band. Everything about this releases screams quality. The music is top notch with a strong production that captures the excellent guitar work, strong drumming (pulverizing double bass aplenty!!!) capped off with Gunther They's patented rasp. To hear him spit out the vocals just moves one's blood!!!. Cover art is also quite grand with an excellent painting depicting a witches' sabbath. The painting on the inner part of the booklet is even better. Question to all : doesn't the riff in 'Vae Victis' sound like the riff played by Powermad in David Lynch's Wild at Heart ? 10 songs - 35:55 m:s

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