"Unto Ashes, a neo-Medieval dirge band, are primarily focused on the exploration of beauty and terror in the realms of shadow and loss. They utilize acoustic and synthetic instruments to produce a foreboding gloom-scape of trance and drone; many of their songs are hauntingly beautiful, a dark harvest of abandonment and failure. Unto Ashes do in fact perform authentic Medieval music as well, but generally do so in a threatening, almost menacing way."(Carlos Dengler, Theatrumaethereum).
LISTEN TO "SONGS FOR A WIDOW" ON
A Review of Songs for a Widow by Jack at Liar Society
(5 of 5 stars) "Songs for a Widow, Unto Ashes's fifth full album, is the musical equivalent of watching a kettle of vultures circling tomorrow's battlefield. The album begins with a re-interpretation of Covenant's synthpop anthem "One World One Sky" as a medieval-esque death dirge and doesn't really lighten up from there. As always, Unto Ashes show a deep commitment to the music they make, employing a wide range of traditional and modern instrumentation and an equally diverse number of languages to deliver their lyrical mysteries. Stylistically, the band combines permutations of medieval musical strains, apocalyptic folk, neoclassical movements, and enough haunting ethereality to make a cathedral candle gutter without wind. Though every track presents its own ominous shade, Unto Ashes also find room to offer a bit of experimentation to challenge the listener; for example, the song "You Will Never Know" begins as a morbid ballad with heavenly vocals, but picks up a soaring electric guitar solo along the way and climaxes in a fusion of militaristic drumming, distorted power chords, and black metal-inspired vocals before returning to a more somber bout of atmospherics. Closing the album is another re-working of "One World One Sky," this time as a pagan celebration in the face of human mortality. Grim has never been so compelling."
A Review of Grave Blessings by Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
"The accomplished blend of dreamed-of past and modern times that Unto Ashes has made its calling card continues with Grave Blessings, another moving and at times surprising combination of musical strands. The core duo of Michael Laird and Natalia Lincoln again find a way to suggest they're not so much recording a new album as channeling something mystic and strange -- yet like role model Current 93, their feet are firmly planted in the present. This can be seen in their choice of cover versions this time out -- reworking the Cure's elegant "The Drowning Man" into a female-sung understated death-folk string-tinged medieval dance, but tackling Flipper's doom-punk classic "The Way of the World" as a gently sung flute-and-guitar ballad is absolutely inspired, equaling Stone Breath's marvelous reworking of Pailhead's "Man Will Surrender." That this can fit on an album that starts with a musical interpretation of a 13th century French poem ("Tous Esforciez") and wraps up in part with part of the Carmina Burana seems appropriate. Lincoln's main singing counterpart and partner is Mariko, whose solo moment of glory appears near the end with "Lesson," which calls to mind the cool beauty of This Ascension at their best. The resultant blend of their alto and soprano vocals as well as Laird's, often in counterpoint, is easily the heart of the album; one can imagine the three doing this as an a cappella effort if they so chose. At the album's simplest, such as "Emptiness," with accompaniment provided mostly by Laird's acoustic guitar, the power of the singing is extremely clear, but the blend on the fuller arrangements is no less enthralling. Along with other entrancing digressions as the instrumental "The Turning," a showcase for Lincoln's piano work, and the murky, dank collage of "Four More Years" -- presumably a non-tribute to a certain 2004 election winner -- Grave Blessings is another powerful release from this astonishing group."
A Review of Grave Blessings by Michael Toland, High Bias Magazine
Grave Blessings is the latest record from New York's finest Gothic / Celtic / medieval / classical / folk / ambient / pagan / whatever band, and it's a killer. Mixing acoustic guitars, percussion, strings, dulcimers and horns with just enough electronics to ground the arrangements in the modern world, the trio (plus guests) weaves a timeless spell. The lyrics may be full of melancholy and dread ("Why do the nights collapse? Why is your heart so numb?" asks "The Lesson") but the glistening music and glimmering voices turn the pain into beauty. "Tortured By Rose Thorns" (which adds gutteral black metal counterpoint vocals to the band's already heady mix) and "In Memory of D'Drennan" are unsettling yet lovely; "Winter Born" and "Emptiness" will bewitch you into singing along to lines like "That's where our emptiness goes." The group also seduces a number of outsiders' numbers, and you'd never know the traditional Irish "Four Loom Weaver," the Cure's "The Drowning Man" or Flipper's "Way of the World" came from other sources if you didn't check the liner notes. Grave Blessings is the best album yet from one of the best bands in the world, genres be damned.
For more information concerning Unto Ashes, please visit untoashes.com
Click to join UntoAshes
JUST IN FROM PROJEKT RECORDS:
Read all about it. Tickets on sale at projekt.com.
