Album Review: Under The Ashes - Sacrifices Heaped
Reviewed by Tim Finch
For the uninitiated, Under The Ashes are a London based four piece with a love of classic death, thrash and doom. In particular they declare they worship at the altars of both Bolt Thrower and Slayer amongst others.
This June the band are set to release ‘Sacrifices Heaped’ and with it they will stamp their mark on the British extreme metal scene.
The album opens with a presidential address talking about war, and in keeping with the love of Bolt Thrower, through which blasts a barrage of riff’s, delivered at breakneck speed that will cause neck ache for even the most hardy of head banger. ‘Circling Above’ hits the mark, and with the layer of guttural vocals delivered with precision this is the perfect introduction for the rest of the album.
Both Slayer and Bolt Throwers influence does sit heavily in the background, yet what the band deliver is their unique take on the worship of these two outfits. The sound is as fresh today as it would have been in 1986, the solo in the albums title track is cut throat, a sound you cannot help lapping up.
Throughout this record there are subtle changes in pace and depth, tracks weave from fast paced thrashers through to darker, more haunting affairs. Each with brutal lyrical content relating to wars of various kinds, all rounded off by the sound of a bomb being dropped as ‘Shadows on a Wall’ fades out to the end of the record.
If you like your death metal old school and sounding nasty as fuck, you need to wrap your ears around this.
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