Ancestral Voices

Manchester-based Liam Blackburn initiated Ancestral Voices as his second solo venture in experimental electronics after first building recognition through drum'n'bass productions issued under the Indigo name. He entered the scene in 2008 via the Mindset single "Set to Cycle," which carried a stronger dubstep character at the outset. Additional tracks appeared across subsequent years on Smokin' Sessions, On the Edge, OpenEarz, and Exit as his approach shifted more firmly into drum'n'bass territory. Following multiple joint efforts with Synkro, the pair formed the duo Akkord and delivered their self-titled debut album in 2013 through the Fabric-affiliated Houndstooth imprint. Blackburn's longstanding connection with Geoff Presha, initially his agent and later operator of Samurai Music, opened doors for Indigo material on the label's Red Seal and Horo subsidiaries. These platforms suited his longstanding preference for the outer reaches of drum'n'bass, where they were then shaping the stripped-back autonomic or grey-area aesthetic that blended skeletal rhythms with techno influences. Seeking a decisive break from that world, he retired the Indigo identity and introduced the more ambient-focused Ancestral Voices project. The first full-length under the new name, 2015's Night of Visions, drew directly from Blackburn's involvement in a Shamanic ritual held in the Amazon rainforest and occupied a space between grey-area techniques and broader atmospheric textures. Two further dancefloor-oriented Samurai releases arrived in 2016: "Old Earth Voodoo" and "Yantra." His second album, 2017's Divination, unfolded as an expansive, mostly rhythm-free exploration of dark ambient music. In 2018 Blackburn founded his own outlet, The Fifth Kingdom, beginning with the single "Mycelia." The third Ancestral Voices album, 2019's Navagraha, explored an intricate harmonic framework rooted in ancient Sanskrit interpretations of the solar system's planetary bodies.