In Ancient Times Forlorn

On my first listen of this album, the track I started with was “Last Enchanted Realm”, it’s not the first song, but the impression it gave me was that it would be something like Summoning. The keyboards specifically reminded me of them. When I started on the actual first song, it was quite similar, totally instrumental, starting out with an ambient piece, and then getting in to drums and epic sounding tremolo riffs. It even had a solo, which is pretty rare.


I still hadn’t heard the black metal side though, and in the third song that’s where that part comes in. Unlike Summoning, Bardfaust went with a traditional black metal sound, using blast beats, poor but not terrible production, and harsher vocals. Some parts are actually head bangable. The guitar is mainly used during the metal parts, with the keys disappearing completely in certain areas.


This album was actually a really great album for a demo, surpassing a lot of full lengths. For those who haven’t heard it, if you’re into Nazgul/Elffor/Summoning type medieval stuff, you’ll love this album. Unfortunately, this is their only release, and I’m not really expecting another since it’s been 7 years since this demo. However their page says still active, so we can hope.