Album Review: Ashes of Ares - New Messiahs
Reviewed by Gareth Pugh
Strangely, 'New Messiahs' is my first listening experience with Ashes Of Ares, I say strangely as I’ve been a big fan of Iced Earth in the past and the two main protagonists of Ashes Of Ares are legendary Iced Earth vocalist Matt Barlow (vocals and lyricist) and former Iced Earth bassist Freddie Vidales (here performing all guitars and bass parts, and also main musical composer) so they really should have been on my radar earlier. 'New Messiahs' is the bands fourth full length album since forming back in 2012, the 2013 self-titled, 'Well of Souls' 2020 and 'Emperors & Fools' 2022, and the lineup for 'New Messiahs'is completed b guest drummer Kyle Taylor, an old bandmate of Freddie from the defunct band Infusion.
Starting with the epic instrumental intro; ‘Novus Ordo’ (New Order) sets the atmosphere with an epic soundscape of acoustic guitars, symphonic keys, intensifying drums and an ominous choir, the powerful title-track follows with driving rhythms and thrashing guitars, the chorus soon embedding itself into your brain with it’s catchy hooks. The band shows its versatility with the slower heavy galloping grooves of ‘Two Graves’ and the fast-paced chops of ‘Atrophy’. ‘Where you Go’ and ‘Keep on Walkin’ show that they are just as comfortable with slowing the pace down and going for a more power ballad like approach, the latter is especially epic and emotional as Matt sends a message to his children to carry on the with their own journey after he has passed away, powerful stuff both lyrically and musically.
Other notable tracks are the thrashy guitar driven first single ‘Wake of Vultures’ with its interesting moral question: “are you one of the vultures or the prey they feed on”. ‘Lust to Feed’ has a cool arrangement with the juxtaposition of hypnotic slower parts with faster heavy sections, which work together exceptionally well. Finishing the vinyl version of the album is a real barnstormer; ‘From Hell He Rides’ a tribute to the old Marvel character ‘Ghost Rider’. The CD version of the album adds two bonus tracks, one a band original ‘Infection Deception’, a track that is just as strong as it’s fellow contenders but presumably got cut from the vinyl version due to time constraints, the other is an extremely interesting interpretation of an Elton John deep cut ‘…And the House Fell Down’ which admirably tackles substance addiction, and while it’s not quite to my own tastes, it’s well executed and a much more convincing choice than Flotsam and Jetsam’s rendition of ‘Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting’.
The album was recorded by the band themselves in their own home studios, apart from the drums, and engineered and mastered by Byron Filson at Villain Recording in Phoenix, Arizona, and the overall sound is professional without being overly polished, it still has a grittiness to it that makes it sound ‘real’ rather than the overly sterile productions that have become the norm. The stunning cover artwork by Kamil Pietruczynik depicts a sinister futuristic cabal (or is futuristic just wishful thinking?) overlooking and controlling the world and aptly depicts the bleak current global outlook we are currently experiencing.
Comparisons with Matt and Freddie’s past group are inevitable, and yes there are certain similarities to the aforementioned Iced Earth, but the guys (certainly with 'New Messiahs'), have worked hard to develop their own sound and in the main have mostly succeeded, this is less Power Metal and more Classic Metal mixed with some hefty doses of Thrash, OK they certainly aren’t reinventing the wheel here, but there are other influences in the mix that set Ashes Of Ares apart from past endeavours, and make them worthy of you attention. This is a very enjoyable album and if you’re an Iced Earth fan I can’t see why you wouldn’t appreciate it, especially if you’re a fan of Matt’s gravelly baritone, or if you’re just a fan of well written melodic metal, then this well worth checking out, in fact I’m off to check out the rest of their back catalogue right now.
