Ash And Dust
– Tracklisting
1.The
Battle Of White Mountain
2.The
Divine
3.Ash
And Dust
4.Demons
5.Into
The Fray
6.At
The Edge
7.Dark
Swan
8.In
Despair
Members
Amy
Tung Barrysmith (vocals/ bass)
Jon
Barrysmith (drums)
Review
Year
Of The Cobra return with their new album Ash And Dust. This sees the
band further explore their Doom Rock sound with the band adding a
heavier mix of Sludge and Stoner Rock into the mix. The album is way
atmospheric that I expected it to be and has a cool sounding hazy
psychedelic atmosphere going on.
Opening
song – The Battle Of White Mountain – is the longest song on the
album running past the seven-minute mark and it’s a great song to
open the album with. As it shows YOTC are in a more reflective and
heavier mood compared to previous releases. The music starts off
rather slowly with Amy’s pounding bass guitar and immense vocals
laying down the groundwork for the gloomy atmosphere to appear and
fully take over. The song immediately become heavier when Jon adapts
a more aggressive style of drumming. The song effortlessly moves from
a wide range of different sounds but still holding the listener’s
full attention from start to finish.
Second
song – The Divine – is a more Doom Rock/Metal song with flashes
of Psychedelic Rock being added. Amy’s vocals are excellent as
always with a slight gothic/occult doom twinge. The music does all of
the talking for the band with heavy sounding grooves being less
direct than the opening song. Though the grunge based Doom/Stoner
riffs are never too far behind.
Third
song – Ash And Dust – is a more Punk driven song with the band
still retaining their Doom Metal identity. This song has a more
experimental Punk Rock feel and it’s quite a frantic style of music
to hear from the band. It’s quite catchy in places especially with
the vocals and lyrics taking a more sinister and threatening turn
compared to other songs on the album.
Fourth
song – Demons – sees Amy in fine sultry form with her devilish
laid-back vocals being the main focus of this song. The song is
mainly a slowly played almost Occult Doom Rock song with the band
taking their time bringing their heavy sounds to the party. Jon’s
drumming may seem less visible on this song but you can feel Jon’s
drumming driving the main narrative of this song with the creepy
psychedelic sounds adding a more claustrophobic edge to the overall
feel of the album.
The
second half of the album continues with the gloomy and heavy sounds
with the songs Into The Fray and Dark Swan being possibly the best
two songs held on the whole album. As YOTC write some of the best
lyrics and music on the album. The second half possibly isn’t as
heavy as the first half but this doesn’t stop the band showing how
they’ve grown and improved as musicians since their acclaimed debut
release.
Ash
And Dust is without doubt YOTC’s best album so far. It’s quite a
progressive and forward thinking album compared to their previous
releases and will no doubt allow YOTC to enhance their reputation
further within the Hard Rock/Metal community
Words
by Steve Howe
Thanks
to Austin
at Secret Service Publicity for
the promo. Ash
And Dust
Arise is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via ProphecyProductions.
Links:
