Ash Borer – Cold Of Ages
by James Hibbert
American black metal has over the last decade become something of a contested area, a battlefield of buzzwords and controversy in which terminology such as “hipster”, “post-black metal” and other such frequently insulting and less frequently endearing descriptions and (sub-sub) genre tags are haphazardly employed, refuted and subsequently discussed. Bands such as Liturgy and Deafheaven and for different reasons artists associated with the Crepusculo Negro & Rhinocervs labels have over and over again been criticised and defended by a multitude of parties and in 2012 the argument has largely become over-burnt, stale and tired with many having quite simply stopped caring.
A loosely congruent collection of musicians based largely, although surprisingly not entirely, in and around the Pacific Northwest of the USA have too been shown a particular degree of attention in recent years, with bands such as Wolves in the Throne Room (and to some degree Agalloch) being championed as pioneers of a micro-genre quite dubiously known to some as “Cascadian black metal”. Represented by the likes of Fell Voices, Leech, Alda, Skagos & Addaura this post-Weakling and Velvet Caccoon USBM formula more often than not carries an eco-centric and anti-urban message, whilst musically focusing on long-form songwriting in the atmospheric black metal vein. As within every musical grouping there shines a gem, and here that gem is: Ash Borer.
A California based five piece who have since 2010 with the release of a demo put out a consistently praised body of work, featuring a split with contemporaries Fell Voices alongside output released through Gilead Media and a fantastic 2011 self-titled full-length. 2012 witnesses the Profound Lore Records CD release of the band’s sophomore full-length, Cold of Ages, soon to be issued in LP format through Pesanta Urfolk alongside a limited run of tapes put out through Psychic Violence.
Ash Borer’s brand of black metal is an exercise in repitition, a meditative affair in which guitars swirl over and through one another in well crafted form whilst the distant howls of anguished souls scream in torment. From the very beginning this quadropedic beast of four tracks is thick with atmosphere, the album opener “Descended Lamentations” builds slowly over the course of three minutes up to it’s main body; a full audio assault of the speed and intensity characteristic of Ash Borer’s discography carried out in perfect execution. By six minutes into the track things have shaped into a rhythmically diverse and riff oriented monster, filled with unpredictable twists and turns before slowing in pace by the ten minute mark as the song drifts towards it’s climactic close. This thirteen minute goliath is not a stand alone song of length unseen elsewhere on the record however and is instead representative of the album in its entirity, with not a single track falling below the ten minute mark and the third, “Convict All Flesh”, reaching up to eighteen minutes in length; featuring a vocal passage carried out by Worm Ouroboros’ very own Jessica Way. These winding, elaborate and grandoise sagas of diverse atmosphere and emotion swirl and contort in shape and form: fast to slow, loud to quiet, through harrowing abysses to uplifting peaks and in turn presenting the listener with a sound clearly inspired by it’s predecessors and contemporaries yet immitating none. Original and definitive yet well informed and rooted. Cold of Ages is clearly a black metal release in concept and presentation but it’s execution permits elements of doom, drone and even post-rock within it’s formula despite the uplifting and “pretty” tones of the band’s debut having been consumed by darker and more menacing energies. Indeed the second track “Phantoms” slows in pace, a murky and sombre affair in which every precious second serves a purpose. Purpose and intent are apt terminology to use when describing this recording, a release exemplery of a matured Ash Borer who not only possess chemistry but now experience and this experience serves the band well.
Longwinded and oftentimes over-emphasising and elongating passages with less flavour and personality than others, Cold of Ages is none the less a step up from Ash Borer’s 2011 self-titled release, something which already stood head and shoulders above the majority of it’s “competition”.
8/10
Profound Lore website
Ash Borer blogspot, bandcamp and facebook
Pesanta Urfolk store
Psychic Violence store (currently closed due to touring)
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