ENTHRONED – ASHSPAWN

Crawling Temples is a powerful opening to the album, setting the theme for the story with a brutal beginning. The album explores the layers of a fracture between a state of being and spiritual transformation, and the progression to an elevated rebirth among the chaos. Each song is a deliberate well crafted tale, and Crawling is the first note of the brutal descent. The tracks that follow set up for the metamorphosis, portraying the transformation of ego and forgoing innocence. Ashspawn, sharing the album title, sets a tone for the feeling of Enthroned as a sound. It’s a beautifully wicked song, a midpoint crucial to the tale as a whole. The pillars of Ashspawn as an album are then highlighted in Raviasamin, a narrative turning point for the journey that tears into silence, exposing all sides of identity.

Beyond Raviasamin are tracks that bring elevation, a loss of sight, the cycle of the caterpillar and facing judgement. The catharsis is violent, each track necessary to the fall and rise, with a vigour that encapsulates something deeply personal to Enthroned as a band. From the beginning to the end, emotions spiral free in the chaos. Ashen Advocacy feels earned with its lyrical power punching through, a triumphant metamorphosis that echoes the journey before it and engulfs it.

The instruments mark a story just as visceral and harsh as the lyrics, conjuring an image of crawling through a hellscape and emerging anew. Every track bleeds between the stages, forming a seamless listening experience where each song is a unique layer and a battle of existence. Nornagest is a powerful vocalist and storyteller, with a harrowing depth and range that's reminiscent of an eerie echo and the howling of beasts within the void, such as his work on Stillborn Litany. His voice reverberates across the album, backed by heavy, rhythmic accompaniment. It feels like a visceral, heartfelt portrayal of man as he is torn asunder, transforming anew.

T.Kaos shows a lot of diversity in his riffs, wicked and discordant when needed. A virtuoso, there is deliberate chaos adding to the heaviness of each track, complemented by skilled and melodic solos, such as in Basilisk Triumphant; as well as the progressive chord mastery demonstrated in Sightless. Ashen Advocacy has a beautiful introduction, slow and creeping into frantic riffing and tonal shifts of chords that create such a classic black metal sound. Menthor's drums are relentless, with iconic blast beats and power that sets the groundwork for the soundscape; a constant running akin to a snake travelling along scorched earth, an urgent and consistent creeping. Chysalid features a number of shifts in tempo, in sync with T.Kaos' sharp guitar work. They make a pair borne in chaos, yet entirely fluid and synthesised; Menthor giving T.Kaos the breathing room to exist within the spaces of his beat.

Mixing is smooth but it doesn’t strip the sound of its grit and rawness typical of black metal, the ferocious energy behind the music more than enough to support the weight of the subject matter. The guitar shows the fight while the drums are the constant in the brutality that brings structure in all the chaos, breaking through to a triumphant finale on Ashen Advocacy - the awakening and realisation at the end of the journey. It feels like a satisfying conclusion, full of iconic sounds that fits the genre in its unforgiving whole.

Ashspawn is perfect for those who enjoy a harrowing, ambient journey of transformation through the flames and self-actualisation. Fans of the genre will be pleased.

Score 9/10

Review by H.Brown

‍