Review by Carl on September 28, 2023.

A bit of an iconic one, this here. It was the first appearance on vinyl for Uncanny, and that cover design for the Ancient Rites side would grace shirts and patches for years to come here in Belgium and beyond. Feeling nostalgic yet? Good! Let's start this trip to the early 90's, I say.

Uncanny opens proceedings on the A side with a brutal dose of death metal goodness. Combining the sound of Carnage, Dismember, Merciless, and the early works of Grave and Unleashed with primordial grindcore elements in the style of Repulsion and Carcass, they make their intentions clear right from the start. A gruff growl is accompanied by a low rumbling guitar sound, while the battering percussion chases both to the end of the energetic tracks. The songs vary fast velocity with pounding slower parts, oozing with malevolence and aggression, with some subtle touches of haunting keyboards added here and there. Everything is steeped in a somewhat murky atmosphere because of the underground soundmix, but that is only a plus in the hands of Uncanny, who manage to combine aggression with grit and a stab of atmosphere. Awesome stuff!

On the flipside we encounter Ancient Rites. They offer up a concoction of older than old school black metal (with traces of Venom, Bathory and Hellhammer), and elements of primitive death/thrash metal (the first albums by Agressor (FRA) and Merciless (SWE) have crossed my mind here and there) and ye olde heavy metal added. They never sounded particularly Scandinavian, predating that scene by a few years, and had a pretty original take on the genre. Weaving together fast paced sections with slower, moodier parts and bits of twisted melody and distorted vocals, the band brews a cocktail of aggression and atmosphere that lends them a face of their own, for sure. The unpolished sound suits proceedings like a glove, radiating obscure vibes all over, it's just a tad of a shame that the drums sound somewhat dry. Other than this, awesome stuff as well!

This is a honking dose of early 90's underground delight, a snapshot from a time when extreme metal wasn't as defined by boundries as it is today. It oozes both aggression and atmosphere, and the authentic performance by both acts make this one more than worth the time invested. To all you old school underground metal terrorists out there, this one comes highly recommended!!!

Rating: 8.5 out of 10