#ash borer

[therecordblog]

Album Review #43: Ash Borer // Cold of Ages // 2012

This would have been fitting for last Saturday, when we got a foot + of snow! Hard to get into the mood for an album called Cold of Ages when it's 60 degrees out and all the snow is melting. Today we have another of my wife's picks, some truly brutal black metal. More after the break!

To put this into the sub-sub-genre box it technically belongs in, this is called "atmospheric black metal". It has the usual trappings of black metal (intensely harsh vocals, frenetic drumming, and relentless tremolo guitar picking), but it's interspersed with ominous, nebulous dirges.

I really like the presentation of this album, too. I was a little surprised to see a double album with only four songs on it! Then again, I can think of a prog rock album that has the same layout. (Yes's Tales From Topographic Oceans, one of my all-timers). The art for this album is very cool, I like the murky watercolors combined with the geometric motifs. My only complaint is that the labels only have artwork on them, not the track that's contained. I had to look at the runout matrix on the disc itself to see which side was which, since I didn't know the songs well enough to tell them apart by ear.

Speaking of which, I had a hard time choosing a favorite song. I had favorite moments of songs, but when the shortest song is nearly eleven and a half minutes and the longest is just over 18, it all starts to blend together for me. I think my favorite track overall though is the final one, "Removed Forms". My apologies for crunchy audio, to get a 15 and a half minute song to fit in the 10MB limit, sacrifices needed to be made. I'd recommend streaming it if this is up your alley, or better yet buying a physical release!!

Visit Original Link

Melancholy guitar and female vocals vaguely remind me of a funeral procession. After a few minutes of acoustic contemplation, the group unleashes into a maelstrom of furious sound. The stripped-down drumming in the breakdown is a nice break from the intensity, I can imagine a mosh pit going nuts during that part. I'm sure these guys are a blast live.

Another meditative guitar solo follows before exploding into another bout of madness, complete with the screams and wails of the damned. Question for metal people: are you able to understand what vocalists are saying at first blush, or is it a "enjoy first, look up the lyrics later" sort of situation? I can't for the life of me even tell that he's forming words, let alone actually presenting coherent lyrics. They could be singing in ancient Sumerian for all I know. Actually, I'm calling dibs on that idea, unless it exists already. Metal in ancient Sumerian.

Until next time, keep spinning!

[morklagt]

[malevolentstrains]

Stuart Bailey - Convict all flesh, 2023, Danish linen, embroidery thread and embroidered patch

[portrait-of-the-jaded-dawn]

Ash Borer - The Irrepassable Gate (2016)

[anotheralbatross]

13:  Emerald (Ash) Borer Native to NE Asia, the emerald ash borer is an invasive species to Europe and North America.  Without natural predators and resistant species, the larvae of this beetle is highly destructive to the ash tree (fraxinus).  The impact of this species has resulted in quarantines, impeding transit of wood across state lines from states with ash borer problems.  introduction of parasitic wasps, fungus, and insecticides are the primary method of combating this environmental  imbalance.

[musicmakesyousmart]

Ash Borer / Fell Voices

Eternal Warfare

2011

[bizarrobrain]

"Rest, You Are the Lightning" by Ash Borer - From "Ash Borer" (2011)

[fuckyeahextrememetal]

“Rest, You Are the Lightning” Ash Borer