Memento Mori - 2022
7.5/10
Ancestral are a Canadian death metal act from the early ‘90s that never made it past the demo stage. They play a style very much rooted in the Florida inspiration, and just last year Memento Mori stepped up to consolidate both demos into one compilation, known as The Unforgotten Years. Bold of them to assume we didn’t forget (just kidding).
The first five tracks of this come from the self-titled Ancestral demo. Despite a very raw production, these tracks still allow the rhythmic integrity and solid use of repetition to shine through, just showcased on a burred and jagged plane. The odd balance between drumwork and guitars taking the forefront oddly has a bit of charm to it; normally I’d complain about this, but I think the amount of focus drawn for each one made it worthwhile enough to overlook the poor structuring. The soft parts are the only areas that break cleaner ground, which are also neat albeit a bit roughly transitioned. Mostly, I’m referring to bits like the end of “Forever An Entity” or the start of “Dead’s Kingdom.” Oh, and that piano ditty to close out the demo is fantastic. Save for some small nitpicks, this portion is incredible.
The final three tracks are the Forgotten Survivor demo from a year later, and amazingly it’s even noisier and more chaotic. There’s also a harsher edge to the delivery, meaning to sound a bit more blunt and menacing than its counterpart. I can’t say that the music itself is better, however. Certainly worthwhile enough, but there’s far fewer layers to dig into, and the gold to dig up on this lies within the first five tracks.
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