claretash-anemoia-reviews

Review from Blasted by Britton

Fri, 31 Jan 2025 19:58:24 +0100

From: Blasted by Britton

Published: January 9, 2025

Hailing from The Land Down Under, Claret Ash was completely unknown to me until Hypnotic Dirge Records sent me their newest EP to review. In short, this album rules and takes me to a very happy place.

“Worldtorn - Anempoia” has a lot going on, but I’ll do my best to explain it. First and foremost, it’s Black Metal. From straight up Black Metal to Technical Black Metal to more of an Agalloch sound, it’s all there. There may be some Post Black Metal in there as well and some kickass almost jazz bass noodling, and there’s a fucking ton of originality going on as well. Honestly, this album flawlessly changes styles and directions all the time and I love it! My favorite song on the album is the acoustic version of “The Wolves Have Fed Again” that is a folky acoustic song with amazing clean vocals.

The vocals are Blackened and very well done, but my favorite vocals are the group/gang vocals used quite often. The group vocals during the Black Metal moments seem proud, hateful and passionate and the group's clean vocals are simply beautiful. The lyrics seem to be about inner thoughts, dreams and loss.

The album’s production is great and that let’s everything going on in the music shine through perfectly.

The cover art is… I’m not sure. It’s done by Samuel Nelson at Stigma Art. It looks to me like an oil painting of a forest. I think I see trees and a sun shining above, but it’s all vague and out of focus. The color scheme is nice and pleasing to the eye. Inside the booklet of the digipak, you will find all of the lyrics, more paintings, a band photo and the band and album information.

Claret Ash has some other albums that I really want to get my hands on. It’s very rare that a Black Metal band injects this much originality to their music, and they have done so with amazing results. Great job to all involved!

No Yahoo Serious or Crocodile Dundee jokes were made creating this review.

Rating: 10/10

Review from Machine Music

Fri, 25 Aug 2023 18:46:22 +0100

From: Machine Music

Published: August 19, 2023

Original Link

Speaking of majestic black metal EPs, Australian band Claret Ash is back with a fantastic new release that has to be some of the best "black metal" black metal I've heard this year. Ruthless and pretty at the same time, and just otherworldly in its feel and execution. This makes me think of all the wonderful melodic black metal of the late 90s early 2000s, in the best possible way. Wonderful. FFO: Wyrgher, Starer, Blood Abscission.

Review from Musipedia of Metal

Fri, 25 Aug 2023 18:45:18 +0100

From: Musipedia of Metal

Published: August 17, 2023

Original Link

Weaving together narratives among common threads of collapse, resiliency, symbiosis, and renewal, Australia’s Claret Ash present the second instalment of the Worldtorn series with Worldtorn: Anemoia.

Opening proceeding with a flurry of fury is Cascadence Of The Twilight, which also contains nice, crisp basslines along with wonderful atmosphere and varying vocal styles. There are a lot of pieces that gel together well to give an indication of who Claret Ash are. This is then followed by the releases longest track Invocation Of The Dream Weavers unlike the previous track this takes a more doom-laden approach with melodic piano pieces and folk elements that weave in and out of the heavier parts that follow.

Following this in a reworking of Ground Dweller from the band’s debut album of the same name, this version is faster and more aggressive, more in line with how is performed live, this is complimented well an acoustic version of The Wolves Have Fed Again. Completing the release is a sweeping Orchestral version of lead track Cascadence Of The Twilight which is wonderfully gothic in presentation and its woeful nature really closes of the EP nicely. A triumphant example of atmospherics.

Rating: 7/10

Reviewed by: Rick Eaglestone

Review from Metal Roos

Fri, 25 Aug 2023 18:44:27 +0100

From: Metal Roos

Published: August 6, 2023

Original Link

It has been more than five years since the groundbreaking double album ‘The Great Adjudication’. Australia’s Claret Ash creates so much more than just epic atmospheric, melodic black metal. Their grand concepts of awakening are all interwoven into the ‘’WorldTorn’’ sequence.

Consisting of both new material and reinterpreted work, Anemoia is its own unique journey. There is the excellent re-recording of ‘Ground Dweller’ from the debut album of the same name, mere statistics against a song that continues to evolve with a combination of excellent riffing and its brief interludes that builds towards a huge crescendo. There is a re-interpretation of ‘’The Wolves Have Fed Again’’ from album number two: multiple vocals layers and beautiful acoustic guitars.

‘Cascadence of the Twilight’ is a new song that receives two interpretations. The nearly eight-minute masterwork is all fury, sound, and evolution. Pursuing the limits of black metal against the urgency of the track and James ‘vocals before stepping back from the abyss before hurling headlong into a furious conclusion. The Orchestral version is its polar opposite, stunningly beautiful, able to transport the existing into new dimensions, reeking nostalgia and aching melancholy.

An incredible personal experience recording collapse, resiliency, and symbiosis Claret Ash has created a multidimensional masterwork that is both harrowing and wonderful. Beautifully constructed yet harrowingly dark, it pulses with darkened energy and moments of light, turbulent yet eerily calm. Melodic Black metal is merely the gateway into the Claret Ash experience, seamlessly interweaving the extreme into new territories.

Rating: 4.5/5

Reviewed by: Sparky