Following on from their sublime opus In Times Of Desperation Epic Black Metal Stalwarts Eternal Helcaraxe have really surpassed their previous offering with a strong contender for album of the year with the ridiculously sublime Drown In Ash, not in my wildest dreams did i ever think it was possible to improve on such a fantastic album.
As soon as that piano intro hits on Withered Strands Of Existence your interest will be instantly grabbed and pulled into the albums uplifting yet depressive artmosphere,then as soon as the full repertoire of instruments kick in you know full well you're about to be taken on an epic journey. this is compounded with the brilliant Drowned In Ash with it's 9+ minutes of emotionally tinged melodic and relentless soundscapes, things get a bit more emotionally charged with possibly my favourite track on the album When Dead Things Roam Free it's very rare i listen to a song that makes me get a bit emotional with a combination of elation and melancholy when it interchanges between the clean vocal parts and melodic and melancholic elements within the song.
We're treated to a beautiful piano interlude with None Of It Mattered which evokes a feeling of loss,suffering and depression,this tracks acts as a catalyst to delve further into the emotionally charged theme within the album which seamlessly leads us into Ice Cold Winds there is no comfort or warmth left only loss,despair, abandonment and hopelessness the deeper you go in this album the gradual build of melancholy and pessimism are honed and crafted with spellbinding precision, as soon as the first notes of Cease hit you with a flurry of razor sharp riffs and an atmosphere reminiscent of peak second wave of black metal, closing track In Dark Woods and Dreams is intertwined with feelings of desolation and loss were the darkness seems to envelope all around you and there's no way of finding the diminishing light.
Drown In Ash is an instant masterpiece and i'll go as far as saying there won't be many Black Metal releases this year that will match the levels of musicianship,atmosphere,emotion and continuity with each track,this is not just a selection of killer individual tracks each track develops the album into a story of realism,loss,depression while combining a surprisingly uplifting atmosphere with elements of Post Metal and Black Metal making this an extremely strong contender for Album Of The Year.
BANDCAMP: https://eternalhelcaraxe.bandcamp.com/
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/eternal_helcaraxe/
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