Ashen Mortality
Separation
Reviewed by Doug Van Pelt
Ian Arkley of 7th Angel fame is back with another Ashen Mortality tape. Coupled with his fiancee Melanie-Sarah Bolton, Ian takes a sledgehammer approach, striking hard, dark, and heavy. Playing long songs with several changes (4/5's of the songs clock in at around 10 minutes each!), they incorporate song dynamics like a singing organ sound or Melanie's voice. It's kinda like mixing prog rock with deathy doom vocals and crunchy heavy metal cereal. The tune "Imprisoned" is the best of the lot. It features a killer guitar picking intro and very dark sound.