Review
Ancient Shores
Step To The Edge

This may not come as a shock to anyone, but West Virginia isn’t exactly the breeding ground for heavy music. Anyone that has crossed into the state’s border would know that it’s the estranged son of the south. However, sometimes a shock will come in the form of a band emerging from the most unexpected of places and ripping your face off. Ancient Shores is a shining example of this.

Knowing about the band for a while, I was actually pleasantly surprised when they signed to Maryland-based A389 Records. While I wondered what was in store for the band, they churned out the four song EP, Step To The Edge. The album evokes the complicated and unrelenting metalcore of the 90’s, being compared to Deadguy, Coalesce, Botch, and even The Dillinger Escape Plan. “Plague Birds” starts things off with a dirty guitar lead and building drums, eventually kicking in to a heavy and driving passage. The song maintains its theme, churning along for its remainder. The second track, “Ring Hell For Service”, is a fast-paced song reminiscent of My America Is Watching Tigers Die (which Ancient Shores possesses a former member of), offering up simple yet hypnotizing guitar leads and deep vocals. Track three, “B.T.K”, is as haunting and heavy as the title would imply. The song sluggishly advances for about a minute and a half, until the tempo is picked up by the drums and the guitars and bass offer up a new progression, keeping the track from getting stale. The album’s finale, “Park Bench Baptism”, wastes no time providing a tense and heavy introduction, showcasing the album’s thick bass. Eventually the song opens up and the heavy tone moves along like the slowest roller coaster you’ve ever been on. The song ends with a build-up of immense proportions and abruptly cuts out.

The production and songwriting on the album are great, but the potential for Ancient Shores to put out a solid full-length album is high. Hopefully as the band progresses, even more than they have already, they will continue to put out consistently impressive releases.