I’m not going to pretend I know everything about metal and hardcore, listen to it regularly or can decide where Ancients stand in the ranks of the genre. I can say that these guys know how to do what they do and have the experience to back it up. Two guitarists, the drummer and bassist come from the Nashville metal act A Promised Threat, and they’ve carried a similar brutal instrumentation to Ancients. Beneath a horrific album cover that features an eerie-gross visage with llama eyes are six dark, aggravated and very tight tracks that are somewhere between hell and The Muse in Nashville.

Both metal (“Collisions”) and hardcore (“Tapping the Champagne Glass”) are found on Opposite Elite. Guitarists Corey Quinlan, Cody Guthoer and Michael Chadwick are unrelenting, and the thrash of Blaze Blanke’s drums and Brent Terebinski’s pounding bass lay the foundation for Clint Gee’s throaty screams that are probably stripping away his windpipe.

It may not be my cup of tea, but Ancients isn’t sloppy, and I’ve heard way worse at The Muse. Finally, I like that this EP could soundtrack the hockey players kicking the shit out of someone in Dogma.