ANCIENT CREATION

"Evolution Bound" (Melissa Records) is the album that should have made a much bigger impact for Kansas City's ANCIENT CREATION. Traditional heavy metal in a broad sense in its nods to early IRON MAIDEN and a smattering of lesser known NWOBHM acts, yet owing just as much to the likes of SLOUGH FEG and HELSTAR, and injected with its own brand of quirky coolness, the album still managed to set the band apart just enough to be genre-relevant. It is the kind of album that grew on you, no matter your protestations. Now a member of the Heaven and Hell Records roster, the quintet's third full-length album, "Moonlight Monument", takes all the things that made "Evolution Bound" work so well and sharpens the hell out of them, the resulting batch of material showing a marked increase in maturity.

A songwriting approach that is more consistently memorable is one upshot. Much as songs from "Evolution Bound", such as "Bringer of Evil" and "Taste of Mortality", stuck to the ribs because of their oddly hooky melodies, so do the tunes of "Moonlight Monument" get stuck and stay. Openers "Profane Destiny" and especially "Black Reflection" are two cases in point. The distinctive mid-range vocal style and unique phrasing of Steve Bentley pushes and twists those melodies into forms most satisfying. But more than anything, "Moonlight Monument" is a successful exercise in meticulous, often epic, arranging that is punctuated by a duo of talented guitarists in Ryan Bender and Peter Nisenkier who unleash a torrent of edgy riffs, jagged melodies, and neoclassical flourishes that are often Yngwie Malmsteen-esque. When combined with the active drumming and bass playing of Mike Burns and Andy Critz, respectively, the musicality of the whole becomes rather engrossing.

The SLOUGH FEG and HELSTAR references are still relevant, though not overly pronounced, while hints of PHARAOH's compositional acumen become more apparent this time around. Most worthy of note is the fact that the lead guitar melodies are crucially important to the approach. Such is the case on "Drifting to Fade" and in a big way on "Apocalypse", which features a cadence that flirts with Celtic folk and wraps up with one of the album's most shredding guitar segments during the last minute or so. The trip of "With Anguish" is an adventurous one. Its moody introductory section is scraped of its polish by a knurled riff (and a sweet vibrato) before a chain-sawing gallop and soaring harmonies take over. The redirection to lighter, ominous terrain is notable for bass playing from Critz that reminds of Steve Harris, as well as an overall feel reminiscent of IRON MAIDEN's "Remember Tomorrow". While the title track also has epic qualities, it stands out for its metallic toughness and periodic references to the intricacy of MERCYFUL FATE.

Most impressive is that there is even more on "Moonlight Monument" to satisfy one's hunger for a metal record defined as much for its skilled performances and thoughtful arrangements as by its organic (read: "real") sound and raw emotional characteristics. In simpler terms, "Moonlight Monument" is an intelligently written, soulful, and fiery heavy metal album.