The fact that I was unaware of Punishment 18 Records probably made the label make me realize my mistake by sending me several of its new releases. One of them is the brand new album by ANCIENT DOME, a band I had the chance to get to know last year by its 2005 self titled demo. Let's see how much has the band progressed since then.

The Italian metallers managed to sign a contract with the also Italian Punishment 18 Records for the release of their first ever full-length album. Entitled simply Human Key, the album is the band's first attempt to show its skills on a full-length release, which means that the jokes are over. It is much easier to entertain someone with 3-4 songs in a promo/demo CD, but approximately 44 minutes of Thrash Metal are not easy for everyone to handle.

Yeah, you heard me right the first time. ANCIENT DOME is a Thrash Metal band. I prefer them than the average Italian Black, Gothic or Power Metal band. And let me remind you that NECRODEATH, the Italian Thrash/Black Metal act has been a favorite of mine for many years. So, ANCIENT DOME's music kind of reminded me of HEATHEN, that awesome melodic Thrash Metal band from the US. Of course the Italians feature more aggressive vocals (as most of the Thrash bands do nowadays) and are a bit more aggressive musically.

Regarding the bands composing skills, I cannot say that there are any significant changes since the demo I happened to come across. The last song on this album, Total Command was there, too, and it is exactly the same here. These guys can write some nice songs, but I have to admit that they need some extra work. Work has to be done not only on the composing sector, but also on the sound which is a really negative thing in Human Key. It really sounds like a good demo's production. I guess that with a clearer and heavier sound their songs would sound much better. Of course that's just my opinion...

So, pretty good band that could use some extra work and a better sound. I believe that ANCIENT DOME can offer some really heavy stuff in the future and that's why I will put some trust in them with this review. For now...