Ante-Inferno – Antediluvian Dreamscapes
Release Date: 13th May 2022
Label: Vendetta Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Black Metal, Melodic Black Metal.
FFO: Glemsel, Burial, Necronautical.
Review By: Andy Spoon
UK black duo Ante-Inferno, made up of vocalist/guitarist Kai Beanland and drummer Gary Stephenson, releases its most recent release, Antediluvian Dreamscapes, a nightmare-fuelled foray into Lovecraftian themes of horror, cosmic existentialism, and fear of the greater unknown. While the band invokes the term “hellish dreamscapes” to describe the atmospheric black metal, listeners are probably going to start the album with a cold listen, not necessarily thinking in Lovecraftian terms, but in those generally-understood by contemporary metalheads. As a result, the themes are dark, woeful, and heavy with dread.
For fans of cosmic horror, this is absolutely nothing new. For those who aren’t, imagine a universe where gods, demons, and ancient beings of unfathomable power render human existence pointless and puny, where our mere existence is an afterthought of a larger, more sinister universe that has little regard for the sanctity or uniqueness of human life. In essence, the writer expresses the horror of that useless existence, full of fear and doubt as to the meaning of anything. From an academic standpoint, black metal is an opportune media for such a message. Ante-Inferno clearly engages their audience with this theme in mind.
Vocally, Beanland’s piercing vocals are awash in the background of the wall of sound, making some of the lyrics harder than normal to define, something that is likely by-design on the album. His vocal range is somewhat limited to one spectrum, but it fits the black metal theme well, piercing, and strident amongst the litany of guitar strokes in the mix. Antediluvian Dreamscapes is largely produced as an homage to the stylistic character of black metal, trying to achieve the heaviest tones through the paucity of over-production. Essentially, the sound ought to be as raw and “ugly” as possible, giving that unpolished feel to the overall product.
Without any doubt, the black metal “feel” is achieved. The guitars are split-tracked by Beanland’s efforts. No bassist is listed, something that doesn’t deviate from old school black metal norms, leaving only a thick and shrill guitar section to lead the entire musical melody. The guitars work very well in producing the dreary, minor-key-infested wails that permeate the entire record. The studio mix separates the tracks with a rhythm section on the right, the lead section on the left channel. It allows the two tracks to avoid a total “wall of sound” that can sometimes be a little overwhelming once mixed with drums and vocals.
Stephenson’s drum section is mixed with minimal editing from a casual listener’s perspective. One can’t help but perceive this is (still) part of the desired sound of the record. However, there are some elements of the drum tracks which cause slight irritation at some point, such as the over-muffled snare, which sounds cheap and bedroom-esque, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but can cause some disappointment to certain listeners hoping for more. Drums are generally unfiltered and uncompressed, which can cause them to be washed out behind the guitars and vocals. However, it does not necessarily detract from the overall sound of the album. It’s hard to criticize a stylistic choice by an artist in black metal, as the goal is so-often to make choices on recordings that are contrary to other genres’ artists. It’s literally part of the entire “game”.
Several interludes pepper the record between intense tracks, helping to create atmospheric moments between more “acute” elements of the album. A slower, more deliberately-solemn musical interlude begins Two Score and Ten Souls, track number 5 before aggregating into a blackened-doom downtempo tune which breaks up the entire record’s overall sound into bite-sized black metal moments, which some might appreciate as it tends to lend itself to variation and atmosphere, rather than an all-out assault (which certainly has its place, no doubt). Here, it works well to build suspense for the coming trills-heavy theater that is presented by the rest of Antediluvian Dreamscapes.
Overall, Ante-Inferno produces an album that ought to touch a special place in the hearts of traditionalists as well as horror metal fans, who generally gravitate towards death metal. The sonic landscape is theatrical, in the sense that it follows dark and menacing cinematic progressions, while bringing the chaotic energy of its black metal presence in its rawness of substance and production. While certainly not going to appear to all metal fans, Antediluvian Dreamscapes entertains, provokes, and stimulates with its “fuck it” attitude and purposefully-unrefined presentation of heavy music. 
(3 / 5)
