This is the debut album from Italian underground Black Metal band ACHERONTE. ACHERONTE formed in early 2010 and have steadily built a following in their home country despite a few line-up changes. The band has taken the time to hone their skills and have clearly developed into a taut black metal machine. On Ancient Furies the band dug deep into their black souls and pulled out something dark and rotten. Opening song "Addicted To War" starts with a melodic guitar intro before giving way to a savage mix of blast beats, muscular riffing and guttural vocals that menacingly scrape along the floor. The band show a surprising ear for melody on second song "Destroyer For The Glory" with guitarist Phobos throwing in some superb guitar fills. The band are adept at flitting between different genres of metal with "Ancient Persecutor Of Christianity" displaying a more death metal influence. This is also the case on the bleak blast-fest that is "The Lame One".

"The Lord Impaler" is one of the most brutal and memorable songs on the album. It's a grim yet captivating listen with merciless vocals from frontman Lord Baal. Album closer "Aztec Ruler" is a rumbling, bleak epic that includes some welcome and skilfully used acoustic elements for a refreshing change of pace. That is until the thunderous blast beats and walls of distortion take over. It is a fitting finale to an extraordinarily savage album. One of the most interesting elements of the album is the subject matter. Each song looks at the lives (and crimes) of one of the many barbarous war mongers throughout history. For example, "Destroyer For The Glory" is concerned with the life of Alexander The Great while "Flagellum Dei" addresses the life of Attila The Hun. The suitably brutal "Ancient Persecutor Of Christianity" tells the story of the Diocletianic persecution of the Christians during the early part of the 3rd century. Unsurprisingly, the album does possess a song about Dracula himself otherwise known as Vlad The Impaler. While it might be a suitably bleak and morose epic, it manages to sound fresh, avoiding the clichés that might have plagued lesser bands.

This is as raw and savage as Black Metal gets with the band wearing their black hearts on their sleeves. Basing each song on a different historical figure adds an interesting twist to the music with the music easily reflecting the often horrific nature of its subject. All in all this is a promising debut and one that marks the band out as one to watch.