Where the 21st century's first decade found bands like The Sword and Witchcraft breathing new life into late-'60s fuzzed-out proto-metal, the second decade has seen a resurgence of occult-themed rock, with bands like Aqua Nebula Oscillator, Blood Ceremony, and The Devil’s Blood. Although the Kuopio, Finland–based Jess & The Ancient Ones are such a group, their approach to occult metal is sublime, working black magic on listeners after repeated listens. The band's eponymous 2012 EP opens with the melodic “Prayer for Death and Fire,” a throwback rocker that plays like Shocking Blue’s Mariska Veres singing for Blue Öyster Cult. “Twilight Witchcraft” follows, with menacing guitar leads slithering up a near-tribal beat before the song opens up and rocks out like a darker Jefferson Airplane. The ambitious “Sulfur Giants” is a 12-minute saga, with galloping rhythms and soaring vocal harmonies. It plays like a pagan rock opera replete with a haunting narrative hewn into shape-shifting movements and complex arrangements. The similarly epic “Come Crimson Death” boasts a vintage-sounding Mellotron.