Ashen Horde started as a solo project for guitarist, Trevor Portz, in 2013 yet has now evolved into an international project with The Amenta lending their drummer as a full-time member. They approach album number five with Karl Chamberlain debuting on vocals and a determination to merge black, death, and prog metal, so the three become indistinguishable. This has its positives and negatives as you make your way through the record with welcoming ears.
As with most extreme metal artists these days, the focus on opener, ‘Autumnal’, is on note groupings that clash like drops of vinegar and cooking oil, The drum work here is thunderous and loud in the mix. Chamberlain could appear on any Dimmu Borgir album with his raspy voice, yet his switch to a baritone post-punk voice is wild in its contrast. Clearly, this band are at their best when they step out of their dissonant metal comfort zone. A thoughtful guitar solo at 03:45 helps to retain the listener’s attention, as do the severe yet precise staccato moments that break up the lead axe work. All the ingredients of a first-class prog metal band are here: ambitious rhythmic patterns, sharp dynamics, wonderful technical ability on all instruments. The vocal harmonies in ‘Entropy and Ecstasy’ are impressive and work with the same efficacy as the mid-90s Therion records. Listen how the double-kick drums flicker with the consistency of an electric fan.
Anyone schooled in Voivod and Gorguts can like this music, but too much of it dawdles in the unmelodious discordance of Ulcerate (who are one of the few original bands in metal these days even if they’re unlistenable). In other words, The Harvest goes out of its way to avoid being enjoyable, instead preferring to tie the listener in knots with virtuoso musicianship and the usual dissonance that now discolours extreme metal as an interesting enterprise. ‘Backward Momentum’ would be another innocuous piece of impenetrable tech metal if not for the clever use of vocal harmonies among the growling and the way it develops a sense of chivalry steeped in hip-shaking rock ‘n’ roll movements at the halfway mark. Why did they wait until track three to entertain us with such ostentatious purpose? Likewise, the opening lick to ‘Voids in the Ash’ deserves a YouTube playthrough so we can see what intervals Trevor Portz uses in this song. Here, Chamberlain sees no contradiction in singing like an alt-rock anti-hero from the 1990s before clearing his throat with a mouthful of razor blades for the Cradle of Filth parts.
Unfortunately, side B does not provide the boost you need to share its vision. You might even feel guilty for not connecting with music that its creators refined with admirable trial and error. Again, it comes down to looking beyond the ingredients (all of which are solid and reliable) and hoping the martial vocals will carry the day, which they do with great aplomb in ‘Remnant’. But the overwhelming number of time-changes, non-repeating sections, and instrumental fills will soon leave you disoriented. ‘A Place in the Rot’ will need at least six listens before you can appreciate its subtle melodies and textures. A flurry of syncopated riffing in the opening verse parts should keep you onboard as the scales move between experimental and Medieval. But then they settle in a tone that could rival a vacuum cleaner trying to spit out a rogue 50p coin from its suction pipe.
The contradiction of mixing melody (the vocals) with unmusical passages (the guitar chords) is nothing new in metal, and many artists have fallen into this trap in the last twenty years. Ashen Horde are better than most of their ilk if we’re being charitable, but they work you hard to understand their art. The contrived aggression in ‘Apparition’ is tedious after two minutes. Fortunately, the swash-buckling vigour of closing track, ‘The Harvest’, reminds us that you can take the music of Vektor and set it in a NWOBHM universe. Karl Chamberlain’s costume changes will leave you with expanding eyes for much of the action here. Play it back on repeat and you’ll hear an anthem waiting to be unboxed but never revealed. That’s deliberate, but it limits the thrill factor when they do this over eight tracks across forty-two minutes.
Kirk Houghton
Verdict
Release Date: 01/05/2026
Record Label: Self-released
Standout tracks: Backward Momentum; Voids in the Ash; The Harvest
Suggested Further Listening: (0) – Skam Han (2020), Resin Tomb – Cerebral Purgatory (2024), Growth – Under the Under (2026)