Written by: Tom Wilson @thetomwilsonexperiment -
Wednesday 25th September 2024

After an eight-year hiatus, Canadian prog powerhouse ANCIIENTS have released Beyond the Reach of the Sun. SENSE got in touch with Kenny Cook to ask what the damn hold up was!

It’s been a long wait for this album. What caused the delay?

There were a number of situations that caused the lengthy hiatus from us. I had a very close part of my family facing some serious health issues. It forced me to focus on that as opposed to creating music regularly. We’ve also had some line-up changes, as well as dealing with the whole Covid thing.

The album is an absolute monster. What were the biggest challenges in creating it?

Thank you! This record was mostly written remotely. I moved four hours away from the rest of the guys in the summer of 2021. I think the biggest challenge was getting used to creating music in that sort of distant format. In the end it actually turned out to be quite fruitful as each of us could work on things when we individually had the time. It seemed a lot more convenient to work that way, as schedules don’t always line up perfectly. So we hammered out most of the foundations for each song and when we had a handful of good ideas cooking I would travel down and we could iron them out in person.

On the flip side of that, what came easiest, and why do you think that was?

In my opinion, the easiest part was the actual studio time. Everyone was very excited to get away for a couple weeks and focus on making a record. As I mentioned earlier, we had some line-up changes and I believe it was a breath of fresh air for the band. Everyone showed up well-rehearsed and I don’t think the recording process could’ve went any smoother than it did.

You’ve incorporated synths and keyboards for the first time on an ANCIIENTS record. How did this come about? What do you think this adds to the band’s repertoire?

It actually all started with an ALAN PARSONS PROJECT cover we had been planning to do for quite a while. I had been speaking to our friend Justin Hagberg about playing keys on it, as he is also a huge fan of APP. I had a few demos already done and thought they could sound great with some extra atmosphere, so I asked him if he’d be willing to add something to them. What he sent back sounded beautiful to my ears and really helped pull the songs together. He ended up playing on half of the record and he added a lot of feelings to the songs, feelings that haven’t quite been present in our music until now.

How would you describe the Canadian metal scene at the moment?

I think the Canadian scene is flourishing. We don’t quite have the population but there has always been some real quality stuff coming from here, in my opinion and I’m sure a lot of others as well. I would describe it as quality over quality [laughs].

You almost lost your wife. What did going through this teach you about life, and teach you about your relationship with music?

It taught me that family is the most important thing we have in this life. It’s weird how sometimes you can take things for granted and it takes a severe jolt to help you get your priorities straight. That whole episode was certainly one of those situations. It was a hell of a life lesson, that’s for sure. I didn’t have much time to focus on music whilst going through those times. It made me realise how big of a part of my life music actually is. Not only creating it but listening to it.  Really happy to be back in a spot that I can be creative again.

Who do you see as the undisputed kings of prog, and why?

Man that’s a tough question, there are too many different things that can be classified as progressive. I like progressive music to be progressive in structure as opposed to technical acrobatics. PINK FLOYD, who I consider progressive would probably be at the top of the heap for me, at least for older stuff. They aren’t doing anything over technical, but they take you to a lot of different places through their records. If I had to choose a current band it would probably be TOOL. I’ve seen them live a handful of times and they are incredible! It seems that for a lot of the music they are each on their own tangent but it lives together so well. When they do combine together to play the same thing it’s just grandiose!

What were the albums that changed your life, and why?

PINK FLOYD – The Wall. My Dad played that record a lot when I was young and I just think it’s one of the best records ever.

METALLICA – Master of Puppets. It was the first metal record I became obsessed with and I still love it to this day.

NIRVANA – Nevermind / In Utero. These were the two records that made me want to learn guitar. As a 12-year-old I was determined to learn everything from those records. Although very poorly, I came damn close [laughs]

Since I just listened to your band for the first time while doing the washing up, what is your go-to music for doing housework?

HUEY LEWIS AND THE NEWS [laughs] Anything that is almost comedic in nature.

Just for fun (and because we’re immature), who’d win in a brawl between ANCIIENTS and MASTODON? Explain your answer.

I think our youthfulness, although we’re not that young, would take it [laughs]. But they might be able to pull out seasoned moves on us. We will never know until ‘til it happens I guess.

Beyond the Reach of the Sun is out now. Get it here.