Ancient VVisdom - Deathlike 12"

Keeping in tone with my latest post about Limb, here is yet another "They are back". This is definitely a bit more exciting though, ever since I first heard "Severed VVays" I've been hooked on Ancient VVisdom. A while ago rumours started circulating that the band were working on a new album, and with a live performance of "Last Man on Earth" these rumours gained a bit more momentum. Of course I kept my eyes and ears out for any news, and sure enough Prosthetic Records have now released their brand spanking new album; Deathlike.

The album brings 12 new Ancient VVisdom tracks that continue in the twisted acoustic style you have surely come to love. I really haven't had the chance to listen to this just as much as I should have by now, but from the good few times I've played it I've definitely enjoyed it. The highlight for me is definitely "Last Man on Earth", which I mentioned just before. It really gives the feeling of being totally alone on a deserted plain, it's awesome.

This has been released on both CD and vinyl, but I really had to opt for the record. I'm not sure how many of these were produced in total, but I do know the first 90 ordered came on clear with a black swirl. Lucky for me I ordered quickly and was able to receive one of these versions. I assume the others are just on black, but don't hold me to it.

Inside the sleeve is an insert containing some altered pictures of the band. You can probably just about make out the ribs and wings on Michael and Justin, but the X-ray style teeth on Nathan Opposition is probably a bit harder to spot. Above the group is a rather fitting quote from Edgar Allen Poe; "The boundaries between life and death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where one ends and where the other begins?".

This is one of the few albums where a lyrics sheet is less than needed, what with such clean vocals and all. It's always nice to have though.

Even though I've let it down by not listening to it as much as I'd have liked to, it is definitely a great album. Here's hoping AVV will continue for years to come!

Ancient VVisdom / Charles Manson - Inner Earth Inferno 12"

Ancient VVisdom play two songs on this split, and these songs were actually what got me into them in the first place. I remember I was listening to somewhat of a mix-tape released by Black Knot, when there was a rather unexpected break in the audial barrage of metallic hardcore. To go from VVegas' "Rhythm Of Decline " to "Severed Ways" was certainly a change of pace, but I liked what I heard. In fact, I liked what I heard so much that I tracked down all the information I could about the mysterious band and eventually bought their first album (and then again later on). 

The recording quality of the AVV songs is pretty poor on this one, but it really does fit with the contribution on the other half of the split. I imagine Charles does not have access to state of the art recording facilities in California State. 

As I am most of the time, I am late on picking up this record. From memory this was released in 2010, so I was surprised when I visited Withdrawal Records to see that many copies were still available. Even more surprising was the fact that copies of the limited colour version were still available; only 151 of these were pressed on red.

According to the website, the artwork for this was designed by one of Charles' friends, Star. I don't know much about this individual, but I do love this artwork.

The reverse side of the cover looks very messy. At first glance I couldn't really make out anything. But when you look at it properly, it actually contains the track-listings for this split. This is only a one sided 12", so the reverse contains no songs. It does still have an elemental centre label though.

The record also came along with a download card. I usually don't bother looking at these much because I just rip the vinyl myself. This one is something a little special though. Most of these are just printed on a piece of scrap paper, or perhaps weak cardboard. This one however, is a proper plastic card with a snippet of the album cover on the front. You've just got to love touches like that.

Ancient VVisdom - A Godlike Inferno 12"

It seems that Ancient VVisdom is quite popular at the moment; my earlier post about the CD version of this album is my most viewed post yet. In that post I mentioned that the album was already released on vinyl, albeit in very low quantity. I did fail to mention that that was the test press version, and that was why only 30 were in circulation. Pretty recently Magic Bullet (The record store, not the blender thing) released the proper press on their website. They have certainly revamped the packaging from the CD version, which does it a lot more justice.

Four different colours were produced for this record, with only 500 being pressed in total. Logic would dictate that any one colour is then out of 125, but it wouldn't surprise me if that weren't the case. The four colours have quite interesting name; midnight 'gray', purple reality, THC and wasteland. All did look pretty good, but I decided to go for midnight gray. I'd have loved to get one of every colour, but that was way out of my music budget.

The photo makes the dust sleeve look the same colour as the record, which would have really been a fantastic touch. It is actually just a black one, but that works better than white on this one. 

As a great bonus, a double sided lyrics sheet was included inside the jacket. I've ended up singing these songs to myself pretty frequently since I got the CD, so I knew most of the words. It still adds to the completeness of the package well though.

There was no bonus T-shirt or anything included this time around. Not that that matters though, they really have put a solid effort into the packaging for the vinyl release of this one. Now all Ancient VVisdom needs to do is out out some more material and we'll all be happy.

Ancient VVisdom - A Godlike Inferno CD

Ancient VVisdom are something a bit different. Featuring ex-members of Integrity and Iron Age, the music they play is probably not what you would expect. Instead of metallic hardcore, these guys play what some might describe as dark-folk. But don't get me wrong, this isn't disappointing in the slightest. In fact this album'll just about blow anything else out the water.

When I originally ordered this I was utterly disappointed. Instead of sending me the correct package, I received a shirt from a band called "August Burns Red". I looked these guys up and what I heard was awful, just awful. They right gear did turn up eventually, and here it is:

Being a CD, the packaging isn't outstanding, but they have still done a pretty good job. I do like how clean and simple the artwork and layout is.

Again the CD is pretty simple. This has been released on vinyl since(although only in a stupidly low amount(UPDATE)), it would be good to see how much better the packaging turned out.

What makes this CD a bit more special is that it came along with this great t-shirt. Designed by Dvvid of Integrity fame, it features a devilish hand with the band logo on the sleeve.