Artist: Ashes
Country: Poland
Label: Malignant Voices
Formats: CD
Year: 2026
Earlier in the year, Ashes presented their third album. Titled ‘Into the Woodlands’, it marked yet again a change in vocalist. After Vann sang on the eponymous debut album and Medico Peste vocalist Lazarus featured on ‘Gloom, Ash and Emptiness to the Horizon’, it is now up to founding member and guitar, bass and keyboard player Nefar to take over the microphone. Together with drummer the Fall, the band conjured this new album that isn’t necessarily a big departure from the dark and melancholic Black Metal of ‘Ashes’ and ‘Gloom, Ash and Emptiness to the Horizon’, however I would certainly say it does approach the musical formula a bit differently.
The new album consists of two, long-stretched tracks. One big difference with the previous recordings is that the overall pace remains on the lower end in comparison, abandoning most of the tempo dynamics of before. In addition, the synthesizers have been given a much larger role. While they sporadically featured on ‘Gloom, Ash and Emptiness to the Horizon’, they’ve become a major element on ‘Into the Woodlands’. For instance, the start of the title track is entirely ambient, and here the sound has a clear Dungeon Synth ring to it. But also, as the track progresses, they remain an anchor, adding bombast as well as a haunting accent. There is a slight sense of restlessness in the percussion and threat comes from the hoarser vocal style of Nefar, while the stable element are tremolo-picked melodies with the haunting keys, the main contributors to the dark and melancholic atmosphere. But the rising of melody towards the end, as well as playful synthesizers give the song color and dynamics, and despite recognizable themes the 15-minute track is far from tedious.
Similarly moody and bewitching is the synthesizer intro of ‘Dust of Life, Time and Death’, the shorter of the two tracks with “just” 11 minutes and change. The contrast of the hoarse cries against the Dungeon Synths sets the tone and, in this track the more layered sound courtesy of the enhanced synthesizers and rumbling bass is apparent. This song seems to reflect the honed focus on a few themes, opting to strip away the elements like tempo change while retaining a nervous energy in the drums and in the colliding layers of instruments. The slow pace, the hoarse cries and the eerie keyboards beautifully push the track into the darkest places of the album and perhaps reflect the deepest sense of misery the band has led up to this far in their journey.
I think most that followed the band previously will appreciate ‘Into the Woodlands’, probably the strongest albums in terms of cohesion. While some may prefer the more guitar-melody centred approach of the debut over the more synthesizer-led ambience of the new record, one cannot deny that this is another excellent work of dark and melancholic Black Metal from this Polish (now) duo.
