Review:

This new Ancestors album is very interesting, somewhat complex and heavily layered. It rides the line between Post-Metal and Progressive Heavy Rock (And to clarify when I mean Heavy Rock, I mean the style of vocal. The album is very relaxing without being monotone or boring); it is Progressive, but also their more “Mellow” release aside from 2011’s “Invisible White”. This is the band’s fifth album. The band started as a 3 piece, in 2006, expanded to 4 and eventually 5, now they are a 3 piece once again.

Ancestors is good name for the band because throughout the band’s career they have shown many influences of bands in the past and the music has constantly changed and evolving, showcasing the breadth & talent of this Los Angeles based outfit. In the relatively short time they have been a band, they have had a lot of influences in their music and turmoil in their personal lives.

I see why they released the last track first. The beginning is like the sound of the previous albums, specifically “Bounty of Age” from 2009 Release “Of Sound Mind”, and by the end it turns into the new sound of this album. The band reigns supreme at making a vast array of soundscapes and have been doing it since their first release; a 7 inch split with Sweden’s Bluesy Rocker Graveyard.

“Gone” Starts this new album off heavy but becomes more and more atmospheric as the song progresses.

“Through a Window” is a track that is most aligned with a “true” or more normal post-metal sound.

“Lying in the Grass” has moments where it almost sounds like Atom Heart Mother by Pink Floyd and/or the Celestial Voices segment of A Saucerful of Secrets.

“Into the Fall” has a very 80s movie soundtrack and early 80s Tangerine Dream vibes.

“Release” – Is a kind of release but not really this track brings back the heavier elements of the bands sound and vocals.

“The Warm Glow” – A little over halfway through the last song it starts to slow down again the easy off of the journey that the album has been

In Conclusion:

This has been said about the band a few times but this album shows how they have matured as musicians veering away from the “stoner rockers” moniker to a forward thinking, ever-evolving juggernaut.

The album feels like it is in three parts because the first few tracks flawlessly run together then there’s a heavy track and then there is a little bit of a relaxation point and then there is another heavy track that is the album… and it is a good journey.

I simultaneously wish there were no vocals and also more vocals at the same time. I would kind of like it if they were to release a double album; disc one being just the instrumentals and disc two being all the songs with vocals.

While this album is most similar to 2012’s “In Dreams and Time” there are some new elements as well and is definitely worth buying and listening to.  “Suspended in Reflections” is an absolute year end contender for best album of 2018.  

Links:

https://ancestorsla.bandcamp.com/album/suspended-in-reflections