My initial impression is that it is a characteristic Cold Spring ambient release, and also harkens back to 90's music from Cold Meat Industry. It could be said to be an album in the same style as Lustmord's Heresy, and executed very skillfully. It is a stygian exploration filled with suffocatingly palpable airspace, the characteristically muted timbres of subterranean, and myriad hints of mammoth emptinesses. Lustmord famously utilized actual recordings of caves to achieve this effect. I'm not sure if this was done for this recording, but the timbre is certainly analog at very least, and convincingly vast and deep.

Opener "Purgatorium" establishes a gothic undertone to its underlying drones as if they were sourced from an organ or a choir 'aah' and then processed and resonated further. It has ghoulish, haunted energy and a stately, processional way of gradually unfolding. Rattling bones, splashing water, and strange howls encroach upon the space, and it actually has a rather claustrophobic quality.

Never falling into soupy, indistinct vaguery as many dark ambient albums do, this is an album with unusually visionary and evocative composition. Always, it seems we are moving in a distinct direction, with space comfortably carved out for each sound used, each allowed to compliment one another as it should. The feeling of pitch darkness is vivid and thick, and it is as if we illuminate small areas at a time as we move.

The third piece "Primeval Science" surprised me with more defined activity in the form of scraping metal, feedback, and wailing, quasi-melodic synth solos. The greater harshness fits comfortably within the stygian theme and reminds me of the 'inner volcano exploration' energy of groups like TenHornedBeast.

Diverging further, we get the ethereal ambient guitar reverie of "Popul Vuh", a striking bit of nostalgia and warmth to follow the desolate coldness of the 1st half of the recording. It's the most emotional moment on the album and a reminder of ambient music's roots in acid-soaked krautrock improvisations.

The final track is the epic "Anubis, House of Dead Prince", clocking at fifteen minutes. Bone-like percussion and deep resonating drones are paired with more satisfying processed instrumental playing, this time what sounds like a bass clarinet or bassoon, sounding a rich and pure organic low octave voice throughout the space. Though the timbre is largely masked, it contributes a wonderful Medieval atmosphere that adds color to the entire album and shows Pezzella's inventive spirit.

Ancient Death Cults and Beliefs is a very solid and evocative album in a classic dark ambient style, with some added diversity from cleverly blended instrumental playing. In a crowded genre, this recording stands out as one that reaches the level of the classic