✦✦✦✧ This sophomore effort from Anciients feels like a strong document of a band in transition. This album is more of a grower than their debut “Heart Of Oak,” but it’s got all the same meat on the bone as its predecessor. But their homages to Mastodon and Baroness are more subtle this time around, as the band’s witches’ brew has taken on new flavors; some are additional nods to bands like Tool and Kylesa, and some are clear signs of the band zeroing in on their own voice.

★★★☆ This unholy mix of Mastodon, Opeth, and Baroness manages to surpass recent offerings from each of those seminal bands by not being as proggy or technical as any of them. Instead, we’re treated to a massive hofbrau slab of all of the above. Their swagger and unapologetic heft (not a single tune under 7 minutes, yo) yield a truly surprising and refreshing (if not wholly original) debut album from these mad Canadians.