January 2026 Featured Release - The Pit Edition
So, I get to kick off The Pit feature release cycle for 2026 and I have gone back some 40 years for this one. Taking us into the realms of mid-eighties speed metal this month, we have the one and only release from Dutch quintet, Asgard. With classic, fantasy artwork adorning the cover on this album it is a real dive back into a time when metal was riding high with Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth all releasing classic albums in the same year. Of course, it would have been too easy to place one of those records on feature this month and so I have gone somewhat obscure instead.
https://metal.academy/releases/41477
This one isn't on Spotify, so head over to YouTube for tracking this one down. Feel free to drop a review of In the Ancient Days against the album page and below. Or simply let us know your thoughts in the thread here.
I don't think I know this record, Vinny, so I am looking forward to acquainting myself with it.
Happy new year by the way.
I don't think I know this record, Vinny, so I am looking forward to acquainting myself with it.
Happy new year by the way.
Same to you
Interesting choice. I haven't even heard of these guys before.
An initial listen reveals this to be very much an early-80's release where the fist-pumping heavy metal of the NWOBHM is being mutated in a couple of directions, ie the US version of power metal which retains some of the NWOBHM's melodicism and the more direct and energetic speed metal that played out as a precursor to the thrash behemoth, this sitting somewhere between the two. Not the best production, but not especially awful for underground acts of the time either and a bit patchy, but I am enjoying it so far.
I have a real soft spot for the often-ridiculous fantasy artwork of heavy metal albums from the eighties. Asgard’s one and only album release from 1986 has enough levels of grandiosity on its artwork to make up for a whole career of albums that never where made. A muscular warrior, barely clothed in a loin cloth stands, bow drawn back ready to take down another mountain crocodile that is somehow completely out of its natural habitat and is attacking him and his cleavage proud princess fawns at his feet. Yeah, the eighties weren’t the best for gender equality, were they? That is not to knock the quality of the artwork by any means. Personally, I think it looks fantastic, and I was sad to read of the passing of the artist responsible for this amazing piece, Ken Kelly in 2022. He is of course better known for his excellent work on Manowar covers as well as The Gates of Slumber and even Satanic Warmaster. If this was a review of the album artwork, then it would be a solid four out of five-star rating.
Sadly, despite their best efforts, Asgard’s musical prowess doesn’t quite match the exploits of the cover artist. In short, In the Ancient Days is all over the place. As with most speed metal albums, there is a fine line being walked between traditional heavy metal and speed metal. In the Ancient Days tends to follow this same pattern accordingly. A mixture of Venom sneer creeps into the vocals of Rene Tholen, teetering on the brink of the over-theatrical on tracks such as ‘Witches Brew’ and ‘Hounds of Hell’ (the version on YouTube has either a skip from a vinyl rip or there’s a terrible edit job on the actual record just before the twenty-minute mark). Yet at the same time, the riffs on this record are superb examples of the heyday of thrash/speed metal. Remembering that this record is now forty-years old, there is a heavy element of nostalgia in my feature selection this month in The Pit.
Being more at the extreme end of metal in terms of my listening habits, the more thrashy/speed metal elements are where I find highlights on In the Ancient Days. The drama could easily be left at the door for me, along with the acoustic (flamenco?) guitar of the interlude ‘Granadinas’ which is crudely placed as the penultimate track on the record. Whether this should be considered as some intro to the anthemic sounding album closer ‘Metal Tonight’ I am unsure but the combination of these two tracks at the end of the album does leave a sour taste in my mouth to finish the album on. I am unaware as to why Asgard lasted for only one album. The ability was there on the debut, albeit not terribly well showcased overall and I sense if the talent could have been grown over subsequent albums then we might have heard the name Asgard more over the years.
3.5/5
I am unaware as to why Asgard lasted for only one album. The ability was there on the debut, albeit not terribly well showcased overall and I sense if the talent could have been grown over subsequent albums then we might have heard the name Asgard more over the years.
3.5/5
From what I can gather they were signed by Noise records, who were a big deal in Europe in the mid 80s, being the home of Celtic Frost, Kreator, Running Wild, Helloween et al, who released this record, but poor sales saw them get quickly dropped by the label. They put out a self-released demo the following year, but it looks like they couldn't garner any interest and failed to get signed by another label so called it a day.
The record industry was set up very differently in those days and I guess without decent label backing it was almost impossible to break out.