Dusk of an Ancient Age
[Intolerant Messiah Records]

The look of the cover artwork and logo of Fall of the Bastards’ “Dusk of an Ancient Age” screams black metal. While the cover and logo suffer from a smidge of false advertising, the band offers up honest-to-goodness metal.

Fall of the Bastards have consist of elements of mainly black metal with a bit of melodic death metal and meandering doom thrown in. They might lack the overall chill and imagery of Scandinavian black metal groups, but they still serve up a good dish of blackened fury.

While the production of “Dusk of an Ancient Age” is pretty much no-frills, it is the music on the CD that speaks volumes. Tracks like “In the Midst of Obsolete” and Signs of an Impending Apocalypse” are brilliantly crafted. Yet, the star of the album has to be “Angelrot.” This track comes out and smacks the listener with the best slab of blackened doom to be unleashed this year. The acoustic instrumental track, “Dawn (The Morning After)" will let Dissection know that while locked in the hoosegow, up-and-coming bands were highly influenced.

All of the musicians that make up the collective of Fall of the Bastards know how to manage their instruments and make the music snarl. Vocalist Jason Voorhees (no, no hockey mask) brings a great mix of typical blackened snare with an occasional beefy guttural growl.

The bonus live tracks are decent and offer 2 non-studio tracks, but are otherwise not as memorable as the rest of the CD. However, if the material recorded live in any inclination of how this band is in the club setting, Fall of the Bastards could be a worthy live show. Regardless, the studio tracks on the album are superb.

If “Dusk of an Ancient Age” proves anything, it proves that Fall of the Bastards is a name we may become more familiar with in the future of metal.