Ancient Thrones Current Line Up
L – Matt LeBlanc (Bass) | Top – Dylan Wallace (Guitar) | Bottom – Sean Hickey (Drums & Vocals) | R – Nick Leslie (Guitar)
Photo Credit – Matt Leblanc
Canadian extreme metal visionaries Ancient Thrones have released a new drum playthrough video for “A Moon Fused Key,” the opening track from their sophomore concept album “Melancholia.” The video, now streaming via TheCirclePit YouTube channel, captures the raw intensity and technical precision of drummer-vocalist Sean Hickey as he delivers a punishing performance that sets the tone for the album’s existential descent.
“A Moon Fused Key is the opening track on the album, but also a narrative climax. It begins with unrelenting force and speed, and doesn’t stop until the final bitter moments. This song is a statement in existential exhaustion, where you have no choice but to brace for what’s coming,” says Hickey.
“Melancholia” is a 42-minute journey through psychological trauma, psychedelic hallucinations, and emotional collapse. The album follows a colourblind protagonist who takes hallucinogens in a desperate attempt to see colour, only to spiral into a surreal and terrifying inner world. Musically, the album blends black metal, 2000s death metal, and modern tech-death, with cinematic and progressive flourishes that elevate its narrative scope.
The drum playthrough showcases the band’s meticulous production and elevated musicianship, honed over five years of writing and refinement. Hickey’s dual role as drummer and vocalist adds a unique dynamic to the band’s live shows, described by fans as “crushing and violent,” with mosh pits, stage dives, and crowd-surfing that reflect the chaos of the music itself.
Formed in 2011 and rebranded in 2018, Halifax, Nova Scotia’s Ancient Thrones has evolved into a fully extreme metal force. With Dylan Wallace as the primary songwriter and Sean Hickey crafting the lyrical and conceptual framework, the band’s collaborative process results in music that is fast, existential, and emotionally resonant.
“This is the sound of existential exhaustion. From the opening drum fill in ‘A Moon Fused Key’ to the washed-out doomy fallout of ‘Vacant,’ “Melancholia” is pure aggression wrapped in a surreal narrative. We hope this album moves you in unnatural ways. Enjoy the trip while it lasts.” Hickey adds.
Watch the full drum playthrough at https://youtu.be/e62MaLUyZgY
“Melancholia” was released on September 19, 2025. The band is already writing new material for the follow-up. Fans can expect more crushing, emotionally charged music in the near future.
Album order (Vinyl, Digital) – https://ancientthrones.
Lyric Video – “A Moon Fused Key” https://youtu.be/IfDBNhlJ0sI
Music Video – “Melancholia” – https://youtu.be/_LvSTJ78kd8
Playthrough – “A Turning Point” – https://youtu.be/zQ3wZqZj9EQ
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Track Listing:
1. A Moon Fused Key (5:12)
2. Achromatopsia (1:19)
3. Melancholia (6:17)
4. A Turning Point (5:46)
5. A Pellucid Prism (4:26)
6. Sacred Swollen Glass (6:16)
7. Blight (2:18)
8. A Pale Palace (4:55)
9. Vacant (5:31)
Album Length: 42:00
Band Lineup:
Dylan Wallace – Guitar
Nick Leslie – Guitar
Matt LeBlanc – Bass
Sean Hickey – Drums & Vocals
More info: Facebook.com/Ancientthrones | Instagram.com/ancientthrones
“The music is indeed violent, and immediately so, exploding in a blast of turbulent riffing, heavily undulating bass tones, and furious beats. The guitars wildly writhe and rapidly spear off in crazed angles, kaleidoscopic in effect, and the words spit forth in caustic screams that are equally deranged. Dissonant and dismal tones intrude, along with guttural roars, blast-beat outbursts, and pulverizing blows, and the riffing also seems to swarm in agony, adding further dimensions of darkness to the song’s overarching manifestation of delirium. Backed by a pulse-pounding and highly headbangable groove, the song also introduces yet another dimension, an eerie guitar solo that slowly slithers, brightly swirls, and evolves into an entrancing harmony, very much like a beckoning and seductive presence that manifests within the mayhem.” – No Clean Singing (single – A Moon Fused Key – 2025)
“Hailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Ancient Thrones’ second album, Melancholia not only cherry picks from a sturdy stable of metallic subgenres — from the melodic, blackened and textural to the technical, exploratory and unhinged — but is also ground zero for an interesting concept/story. The record’s nine songs tell the story of a colorblind individual who dives head first into psychedelic drug use as a last-ditch attempt to experience life in color. The album chronicles everything they experience in the process as life goes on with their newly minted perceptual capabilities. Given that it’s an extreme metal album, we can only surmise that the story doesn’t end on a particularly happy note, but you can find out for yourself via the stream of Melancholia we’re running below, a single day before its release date.” – Decibel Magazine
“Five years after The Veil, the Halifax quartet returns with a second self-produced album. Melancholy is hardly a musical concern. Melancholia is a forty-one-minute blast of extreme metal, combining the codes (and vocals) of black and death metal across nine tight and scorching tracks. Somewhere between AngelCorpse and Black Dahlia Murder, Ancient Thrones stands out more for its true ferocity than for the originality of its material. It’s up to you to decide whether substance outweighs form, or vice versa. In any case, the effectiveness is truly undeniable.” – Metallian Magazine (France)
“indeed a contentious and brutal slab of metal that will roll right over you and crush your skull into dust. Just when you think the band has reached their limit of intensity, they take it up a notch to impossible heights. If you dare, travel to their world of “Melancholia.”” – Metal Temple
“Who needs a compact disc when you have a vinyl? That’s what Canadian’s Ancient Thrones are saying as they approach the 19th September arrival of their new album “Melancholia“. Curiously enough with their guitar playthrough for new song “A Turning Point” the outfit trade Speed for Sludge, Groove and emotional weight as they continue to evolve their progressive and existential sound.” – Metal Noise
“Thrashy blackened death metal, pretty cool stuff.” – The Mosh Pit 89.9 FM (Madison, WI)
“Tracks like A Moon Fused Key and Vacant drive the narrative through blasts of speed, cinematic atmosphere, and suffocating heaviness, pulling from black, death, and tech death while pushing into surreal territory.” – IDIOTEQ
“The whole album, clocking in at 42 minutes, is a descent into what I can only call emotional extremity, not just brutality for brutality’s sake, but a narrative steeped in alienation, transformation, and the horror of seeing the world differently. Tracks like “Achromatopsia” (a 90-second tone poem of dissonance) and the doom-smeared closer “Vacant” frame a journey that’s as cerebral as it is crushing. Think Deafheaven’s atmosphere meets Archspire’s velocity, with a dash of The Red Chord’s structural madness. And the production? Impeccably violent. Every layer was obsessively sculpted: tones dialed, performances honed over a year just to play the damn thing. You can hear it. This isn’t noise; it’s architecture. A cathedral of dissonance with stained glass made of feedback.” – Papy Jeff Metal
“A psychedelic trip turns sideways on Ancient Thrones’ second album, Melancholia. A concept inspired by vocalist/drummer Sean Hickey’s own experience on hallucinatory drugs, chilling fright is given through blackened death metal. Their songwriting trims the excess from their debut The Veil, while never losing sight of the overarching story of a person’s inner turmoil. A few songs use piano for cinematic effect, including the calming interlude “Achromatopsia” and rumbling stance of “Vacant.” The latter is the group at their slowest, slinking along as each word is coughed out with disdain. A cavalcade of drum fills perks the tune up before an extended bout of noise finishes Melancholia on a hopeless note for our suffering main character.” – Heavy Music HQ
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