Sleaszy Rider Records present a re-release of the Det Glemte Riket album, originally released by Hammerheart Records in 1999. This album is a collection of various material like the full Trolltaar album (which has been unavailable since 1997), 2 tracks from the Svartalvheim album from 1994, a cover of Black Sabbath's Sweet Leaf and other unreleased tracks, exclusive to this album.
The band Ancient originally began as a solo project of Aphazel, guitarist and composer from Norway, in 1992. It didn't take long for the project to turn into a band and include Grimm as the vocalist / drummer. The two of them recorded the Eerily Howling Winds Demo in 1993 and the Det Glemte Riket 7 in 1994 and managed to create a very strong basis in the underground Black Metal scene worldwide. The first album of the band, Svartalvheim, was released by Listenable Records/Osmose in 1994 and a year later Ancient released the mini album Trolltaar, which is also the final with the current lineup.
After leaving Norway and moving to the U.S.A, Aphazel found the new vocalist, Lord Kaiaphas, and the band singed a contract with Metal Blade Records through which they released Ancient's next album, The Cainian Chronicle, in 1996. Ancient so far witnessed changes as far as the band members are concerned and it will remain an issue for years to come. The album Mad Grandiose Blood Friends was released in 1997 and the guitarist under the loudly sarcastic nickname of Jesus Christ entered the band. A grand world tour followed and Aphazel moved back to Europe. In 1999 and with Aphazel now as the new vocalist, The Halls Of Eternity was released.
For the next couple of years the band followed touring activities and participated in a number of festivals and it wasn't until January 2001 that the mini album God Loves The Dead was released. Nine months later the album Proxima Centauri came out. The specific album was recorded in the studio of Andy La Rocque and through that, two more members were added to the band; drummer Grom and bassist Dhilorz. Again, a massive tour followed all over the world for the next years. In 2004 Night Visit was released, having satisfied all the loyal fans and introducing a great number of new followers to the Ancient's sound.
The specific release isn't a new Ancient album but actually a collection of older songs from previous albums, also including rare material and unreleased tracks. The first track, Trolltaar, sharp with some clean vocals, is from the mini album Trolltaar. The second one is the atmospheric and with amazing keyboards Nattens Skjonnhet, again from the Trolltaar album and with the Eerily Howling Winds next in line from the homonymous release. Two songs from the Svartalvheim album are included; the evil and magisterial Det Glemte Riket and the Huldradans. The track Paa Evig Vandring can be found in the Svartalheim album but here it is in its original raw form with a much harsher sound. The next track, which comes from the Trolltaar release again, is Fjellets Hemmelighet and it is included in Ancient's sound highlights. Algol is a filled-with-keyboards track that hasn't been released before, followed by a cover of Black Sabbath's Sweat Leaf.
Det Glemte Riket comes as a reminder to all Black Metal fans of the first but very significant steps of this band. The material presented here shows a band with incredible potential, proudly proving themselves as being amongst the founding fathers of the Norwegian Black Metal genre. A must have for the CD collection of all those who are into the early Mortiis and Burzum sound.