#trivium — Public Fediverse posts

Leading up to the release of The Harvest, Ashen Horde finds themselves pushing against the boundaries of the identity they’ve honed since forming in 2013. Conceived by Los Angeles-based Trevor Portz, the sole contributor through the band’s first two albums,1 Ashen Horde stands as a studio-only project, blurring the lines between black and death metal with progressive tendencies while telling unified stories through each album’s runtime. On third album Fallen Cathedrals, Ashen Horde enlisted the talents of powerhouse vocalist Stevie Boiser (Inferi, Equipoise) to tremendous effect. Portz and Boiser delivered another gem on follow-up Antimony, joined by drummer Robin Stone (Chestcrush) and bassist Igor Panasewicz (NightWraith). On fifth album The Harvest: newcomer Karl Chamberlain (Putrefier) replaces Boiser and leans heavily into melodic cleans, Panasewicz exits the fold, the narrative element has been replaced with a looser theme,2 and Ashen Horde begins rehearsals for their first-ever live performances later this year. Do all these changes result in an effective crop rotation, keeping The Harvest’s yield fresh and rich, or do the white-hot flames of slash-and-burn songwriting blaze too brightly, leaving only a bumper crop of ash?

Where Boiser’s vocals amplified Ashen Horde’s ferocity within the confines of black and death metal, Chamberlain’s stylings push the band’s sound into a more melodic arena. Clean vocals sparsely populated Ashen Horde’s Boiser era, but The Harvest sees them co-headline, prominently featuring Chamberlain’s versatile melodic phrasing. Prior releases’ touchstones Opeth and Enslaved continue to be relevant, yet the emphasis on cleans skews heavily towards Trivium and, to a lesser extent, Killswitch Engage.3 The shift is broader than the vocals, though, as the instrumentation diversifies as well. Frantic trems and knotty compositions previously grounded Ashen Horde’s sound in progressive black metal akin to Ihsahn, but The Harvest evolves to bring a distinctly Voivoidian essence to the guitar work (the riffing after the solo on “Backward Momentum” is classic Piggy). Performance-wise, Ashen Horde delivers first-rate moments that ground returning listeners in a familiar setting, with Portz laying down his usual impressive stringed attack and Stone supplying nuanced exhibitions throughout. In total, these changes evince a band at a crossroads, uncontent to rest on its laurels while a new outlook is forged.

The maturation of Ashen Horde’s sound amounts to more than an inflated list of references, though. For starters, the underlying genres require reevaluation. Fallen Cathedrals and Antimony classify as black metal, death metal, and progressive metal, yet The Harvest adds a healthy dose of melodic death metal and a dash of thrash. Specifically, “Remnant” evokes a slightly proggier take on 90s In Flames while “Apparition” recalls a less rabid The Black Dahlia Murder. Besides Voivod, The Harvest taps into thrash via the jazzy grooves heard on Species’ latest (“Entropy and Ecstasy”) and the whirring, dissonant refrains endemic to Coroner (“Autumnal,” “A Place in the Rot”). With so many moving pieces, it’s a wonder that Ashen Horde retains as much of their core identity as they do.

Given the dramatic musical pivot, The Harvest feels like a snapshot of a band mid-flight rather than one reaching their final destination. With Ashen Horde stacking so many elements on top of one another, I’m not sure how well they gel into a unified album. The vocals in particular give me the biggest pause—not because of Chamberlain’s performance, which is potent across harsh and clean deliveries. I’m just not convinced how well they work in concert, given the even split between them. On previous albums, cleans were sparingly used as accents, but their expanded involvement on The Harvest conjures disparate moods that flit back and forth in a way that occasionally feels jarring (“Autumnal”). The end result is a compromise that lands between the familiar and the bold.

Despite Ashen Horde exploring a new identity on The Harvest, plenty of earwatering fruit awaits a good reaping. As the band calls out in their promo materials, even though the central theme is about endings, The Harvest is a new beginning. I expect opinions will be split on the new direction, but Ashen Horde is a project that teems with ideas and new frontiers, and I’ll take that every time over a band that’s content to remake the same album over and over. Now go check out this week’s Harvest and sample its tasty Ashen Hordeuvres.

Rating: Good!
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Self-Release
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: May 1st, 2026

Full Assault – Dying World Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier

Though Germany’s Full Assault has been around for over fifteen years, I’ve never heard of them. I was even surprised they’ve never been reviewed before in these halls. But that might be the lack of a label—until now. Their Iron Shields debut, Dying World, arrives with neothrash tendencies that combine a Crisix-like vocal approach with At the Gates thrashery. Standing as their third full-length release, Dying World comes seven years after their last (and undoubtedly best) album, War Blooded. Though their debut record, Forgotten Blood Tales, had some highlights, its successor is far superior in every way. While you won’t find anything new that hasn’t been done before, this three-piece outfit was firing on all cylinders when they recorded that album. They even evolved their sound from unhinged bruisers, like “Unleashed Warbeast,” to Amon Amarthy melodic numbers, like “City of No Hope.” And now the band pushes farther into those melodic influences with this new record.

How far they go and how far it’ll take them probably depends on the listener. Fans of the band will find some differences between Dying World and their last album. While War Blooded had inklings of that melodeath sound, this new record goes all in. While still invoking the spirit of old-school At the Gates, the band even adds some of the melodies of Kreator to the mix. The result is a combination of overly technical thrash licks and dramatic choruses. At times, the band even extends their song lengths beyond what’s typical for them to capture (if anything) the grandioseness of their melodic builds. Other times, it feels like they aren’t quite up to the challenge, slowing songs down that would otherwise be shredders. It’s an odd conglomeration that will either be adored by their fanbase or left by the wayside.

“Edge of a Collapse” is one of the better tracks on the album, tearing its way through a killer riff while borrowing its melodic qualities from the likes of Trivium and Kreator. The fitting solo at the halfway point does wonders for the song, enhancing the emotion as it soars to its conclusion. Its only real flaw is that it overstays its welcome just a little bit. “All Hope Is Gone” is another that shares some similarities to Kreator, particularly in its mighty chorus. It has great energy, and even when it stops to let the drums set up the next phase of the song, the harmonizing guitar leads and soaring solo bring it back into action.

The opener, “Final Dawn of Light,” is one of those songs that struggles to keep pace. After the almost Viking-like introduction, the intricate riffage fights and struggles to get rolling. More than on previous albums, the vocals have a sharper, Crisix-like edge that swings from one ear to the other during the chorus. And, like most of the songs on the album, there’s a dramatic turn after the midpoint, chugging its way back to life until it closes with the chorus. “Signs of the End” also struggles to keep pace. While the melodic riffage is beefy and the guitars alternate between ripping thrash licks and old-school Metallica sustains, the drums do very little to add to the charge. Well, other than just being there as a really loud metronome.

While there’s some great stuff on Dying World, and impressive guitar work, the album drags on too long. This is not helped by songs like “Planet Grave” and “Piece of Cloth.” While the fretwork in the first is badass, it transitions to a pointless bass lead and these annoying fade-ins and fade-outs before finally ending a minute too late. “Piece of Cloth,” on the other hand, never gets going in the first place. Instead, it drawls on and on, ending the album on a low point. Though Dying World isn’t a disappointment in Full Assault standards, it’s not at the same level of hookiness as its predecessor. That said, if you like the namedrops in this review, there’s potential you might enjoy Dying World. For me, I’ll stick with the slick and snappy War Blooded.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Iron Shield Records
Websites: fullassault.bandcamp.com1 | facebook.com/fullassaultofficial
Releases Worldwide: February 9th, 2024

#25 #2024 #AmonAmarth #AtTheGates #Crisix #DyingWorld #Feb24 #FullAssault #GermanMetal #IronShieldRecords #Kreator #Metallica #Review #Reviews #ThrashMetal #Trivium #Warbringer

Full Assault – Dying World Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier

Though Germany’s Full Assault has been around for over fifteen years, I’ve never heard of them. I was even surprised they’ve never been reviewed before in these halls. But that might be the lack of a label—until now. Their Iron Shields debut, Dying World, arrives with neothrash tendencies that combine a Crisix-like vocal approach with At the Gates thrashery. Standing as their third full-length release, Dying World comes seven years after their last (and undoubtedly best) album, War Blooded. Though their debut record, Forgotten Blood Tales, had some highlights, its successor is far superior in every way. While you won’t find anything new that hasn’t been done before, this three-piece outfit was firing on all cylinders when they recorded that album. They even evolved their sound from unhinged bruisers, like “Unleashed Warbeast,” to Amon Amarthy melodic numbers, like “City of No Hope.” And now the band pushes farther into those melodic influences with this new record.

How far they go and how far it’ll take them probably depends on the listener. Fans of the band will find some differences between Dying World and their last album. While War Blooded had inklings of that melodeath sound, this new record goes all in. While still invoking the spirit of old-school At the Gates, the band even adds some of the melodies of Kreator to the mix. The result is a combination of overly technical thrash licks and dramatic choruses. At times, the band even extends their song lengths beyond what’s typical for them to capture (if anything) the grandioseness of their melodic builds. Other times, it feels like they aren’t quite up to the challenge, slowing songs down that would otherwise be shredders. It’s an odd conglomeration that will either be adored by their fanbase or left by the wayside.

“Edge of a Collapse” is one of the better tracks on the album, tearing its way through a killer riff while borrowing its melodic qualities from the likes of Trivium and Kreator. The fitting solo at the halfway point does wonders for the song, enhancing the emotion as it soars to its conclusion. Its only real flaw is that it overstays its welcome just a little bit. “All Hope Is Gone” is another that shares some similarities to Kreator, particularly in its mighty chorus. It has great energy, and even when it stops to let the drums set up the next phase of the song, the harmonizing guitar leads and soaring solo bring it back into action.

The opener, “Final Dawn of Light,” is one of those songs that struggles to keep pace. After the almost Viking-like introduction, the intricate riffage fights and struggles to get rolling. More than on previous albums, the vocals have a sharper, Crisix-like edge that swings from one ear to the other during the chorus. And, like most of the songs on the album, there’s a dramatic turn after the midpoint, chugging its way back to life until it closes with the chorus. “Signs of the End” also struggles to keep pace. While the melodic riffage is beefy and the guitars alternate between ripping thrash licks and old-school Metallica sustains, the drums do very little to add to the charge. Well, other than just being there as a really loud metronome.

While there’s some great stuff on Dying World, and impressive guitar work, the album drags on too long. This is not helped by songs like “Planet Grave” and “Piece of Cloth.” While the fretwork in the first is badass, it transitions to a pointless bass lead and these annoying fade-ins and fade-outs before finally ending a minute too late. “Piece of Cloth,” on the other hand, never gets going in the first place. Instead, it drawls on and on, ending the album on a low point. Though Dying World isn’t a disappointment in Full Assault standards, it’s not at the same level of hookiness as its predecessor. That said, if you like the namedrops in this review, there’s potential you might enjoy Dying World. For me, I’ll stick with the slick and snappy War Blooded.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Iron Shield Records
Websites: fullassault.bandcamp.com1 | facebook.com/fullassaultofficial
Releases Worldwide: February 9th, 2024

#25 #2024 #AmonAmarth #AtTheGates #Crisix #DyingWorld #Feb24 #FullAssault #GermanMetal #IronShieldRecords #Kreator #Metallica #Review #Reviews #ThrashMetal #Trivium #Warbringer