Ancient Flame is the brainchild of only one heathen soul with the initials J.L. After acting like the new Inspector Gadget, throwing an exploding message in a garbage-bin with the Chief in it for example, it was with outmost effort from my side I came to the conclusion we are dealing with James Lipczynski, known for his musical work within Crypt Sermon, Labyrinthine and Skullreader. Well…outmost effort, you all know there are certain websites that beholds the information with just two clicks away.
Ancient Flame’s debut and only release so far was first released on cassette by Fólkvangr Records, limited to 50 hand-numbered copies, and got a CD release by Morbid Chapel Records later on. Ancient Flame is aiming for the Epic side of Black Metal with “Tyrant Blood” but without getting over-heroic or pure emphasizing on pagan melodies. Sure, these elements are present and you can hear influences of Bathory, early Abigor and Graveland during “Blades of Honor” or “The Druid”, but the main difference is the more than common use of galloping drums than most albums that are released in the 1990s within this typical style. But this more pointing out a difference than mentioning it and judging it as a flaw or something like that.
“Tyrant Blood” is absolutely a variated, well executed Epic Black Metal album in the vein of the mid 1990s and a good listen in general. I think we can all agree there aren’t many releases in this particular style nowadays. (Ricardo)
