ASHES YOU LEAVE – Songs For The Lost

Ashes You Leave, formerly known as Icon, release yet another accomplishment since their image transformation in their 2002 album Fire. In the past the Croatia based band presented veins of Death / Doom Metal until their decision, or rather Berislave Poje’s and Marta Batinic’s (the two remaining founders) to compose their music under the roots of Gothic / Doom Metal a’la Within Temptation , Paradise Lost and Galadriel. You may also recall that this kind of thing goes on in other bands, i.e. a desire to change the scenery around them. Paradise Lost is a good example to emphasize this notion. Songs For The Lost, overall , is a good atmospheric album that comes across as music between icy softness and monstrous evil.

Songs For The Lost has lots of enchanting moments of piano, violin and female singer collaboration, moments that are magical indeed. The female singer reigns most of the lead vocal parts with a firm hand providing a soft cold voice of calmness. With the touches of strong twin electric guitars , which charges with heavy riffs , trills and several solos, strong bass and drums, an almost perfect harmony is just screaming out.

Listen to tracks like “Losing Faith” , which also has an Iron Maiden-ish reminder of harmonized guitars joining in melodic lead break, and “Apathy Overdose”. The violin, an instrument that goes back with the band since 1995 and with many other bands from several sub-genres in Metal, can be recognized as a Metal instrument just as the keys are, yet is also another instrument which takes charge in this release. Although its role is not as important as the guitars, bass or drums, it helps color the tracks with marvelous intros and even sometimes commands the main riffs. “Where The Pain Is” is a great example of how the violin takes the lead on the main riff of the song. In addition, almost throughout the whole album it replaces a lead guitar by issuing its own solos, even though they are not wild as a good guitar solo. The growling vocals factor, however less dominant than in other bands in this sub-genre, helps complete a very nice picture of dark, mysterious, depressed and cold music.

Everyone who listens to this album will probably say that it has an enchanting musical approach. This fact is true in this case, yet Ashes You Leave has a problem with varying their songs. There are tracks, in the case of choruses, that sound almost the same, maybe an octave high or low. Moreover, several of the riffs sound identical between tracks. Let’s say there are sections which you can easily expect and you may come around with similar rhythms along the album – A repetitive motif.

Highlights from Songs For The Lost include “Every Me Every You” , Apathy Overdose” , “Losing Faith” , “Where The Pain Is” , “Song For The Lost”.

This band is recommended for those of you who adore Within Temptation, Leaves Eyes, Paradise Lost , Galadriel and those sorts. Ashes You Leave is all charged up with melodies, which were not necessarily mastered by guitars.