01. Luminance And Abyss
02. My Prima Nox
03. The Vessel
04. The Empire Of Black Death
05. Unending
06. Minister Of Light
07. Proximity
08. Soulbound Symphony
09. My Blood And Blade
10. Mystic Echoes
11. Under The Shadow
12. Sea Of Solitude
13. Artifex

A well-made album, but dry as a salty cracker.

Artifex, the new release from Ancient Bards, starts off like a ton of other albums in the symphonic metal genre. “Luminance And Abyss” isn’t really a song, but a three-minute intro with narration that sets up the concept story of the record — a story that can only be described as predictable and very familiar. It’s a story of two siblings: one turns to the light, the other to the dark. What also felt familiar was the voice that introduces us to the story; the narrator reminded me of another record I listen to from time to time: The Chronicles Project’s When Darkness Falls. The likeness was so strong that I even looked up whether it’s the same person. And as it turns out... it isn’t (although their first names are both Dave, so at least I’m 50% right).

There’s a reason I mentioned When Darkness Falls, as I’ll be drawing some comparisons to it, as well as to one of Ancient Bards’s previous albums, A New Dawn Ending (which is the one I’m most familiar with).

I mentioned the intro and concept story earlier, and here is where we can draw the first comparisons. On A New Dawn Ending, you get very short narration that builds up the anticipation of a battle. In contrast, When Darkness Falls fully embraces the “lore” approach, setting up the world’s concept so that the following songs can tell the story. Both these albums have a form of mystique; one puts you in medias res, while the other uses intriguing world-building to start off its album. Artifex doesn’t really do either; instead, it feels more like a summary (probably because you already have an idea of which endings are most plausible for a story like this). A more mysterious setup would have resulted in a more engaging concept album.

So, what’s Artifex’s unique selling point? Well, as far as the music itself goes, Artifex feels rather traditional. I can’t really say I was surprised at any point by what I was hearing; it’s like if Michelangelo painted the ceiling of your house, but decided to just paint it in standard white. That might sound harsh, but this is an extremely talented band who, in the past, managed to avoid the typical power metal and symphonic metal tropes that are overly abundant here. “The Vessel” is an example of that reliance on tropes; it has that typical power/symphonic chorus with multiple voices forming a choir-like sound, combined with an extremely generic melodic vocal line that you’ve heard dozens of times before. There are some growls in a couple of the songs, but they don’t really add anything for me.

The symphonic elements? To me, it often felt like they were using them as a crutch rather than as a way to enhance the whole experience. That’s something I never felt when listening to A New Dawn Ending. In the case of When Darkness Falls, the USP is the theatrical approach; at times during the album (especially in the narrated parts), the different characters are chewing up the scene, feeling like a theatre play at times. There’s a connection between the characters and the emotions they convey; combine that with some progressive elements in the music, and the result is a record with its own identity. Artifex lacks that sort of identity; I don’t really feel a connection between the different characters within the concept story. Combined with the lack of mystique I mentioned earlier, it’s another case of missed potential for the overall concept story of the record.

I’ve listened to Artifex multiple times now, and with each subsequent listen, it became harder and harder for me to get through it as a whole. The last two listens I did were in shorter bursts. Now, I’m fully aware that the issues I have with Artifex will be non-issues for others. They might like that specific style of symphonic metal and not feel as fatigued by it as I do; they want an enjoyable and easy-to-listen-to kind of record — and that it delivers. From a production and performance point of view, this is as solid as it gets. Just don’t expect anything more.

Performance:	8
Songwriting:	5
Originality:	5
Production:	8