Album Review: Ash Magick - Rituals of Anathematic East
Album Review
Artist: Ash Magick
Release Date: August, 29, 2025
Score 8/10
Review by Rick Eaglestone
The underground metal scene continues to unearth treasures from the most unlikely corners of the globe, and Ash Magick's latest offering, "Rituals of Anathematic East," stands as a testament to the genre's boundless capacity for reinvention. This quintet from the industrial wastelands of Eastern Europe has crafted something genuinely unsettling here – a sonic grimoire steeped in ancient Mesopotamian sorcery and Syriac mysticism
it's abundantly clear that Ash Magick although feral in delivery are nothing if meticulous as every instrument cuts through the mix
with surgical precision, yet there's an underlying murkiness that serves the
band's aesthetic perfectly. The drums thunder with the weight of collapsing
cathedrals, while the bass work provides a foundation so solid you could build
a mausoleum on it.
The vocals delivers range from
guttural incantations to piercing shrieks that could wake the dead – and
probably have, somewhere in the forgotten graveyards of their homeland. There's
a theatrical quality to their delivery that never crosses into parody,
maintaining the delicate balance between conviction and performance that
separates the wheat from the chaff in extreme metal. When they drop into those
whispered passages during the album's more atmospheric moments, the effect is
genuinely chilling.
The guitar work deserves particular praise. Ash Magick have developed a chemistry that borders on telepathic,
weaving together riffs that feel both ancient and futuristic. Their use of
dissonance isn't just for shock value – there's a method to their madness, a
carefully constructed architecture of tension and release that keeps listeners
on edge throughout the album's 52-minute runtime. The solos, when they appear,
feel earned rather than obligatory, emerging from the compositions like dark
flowers blooming in cursed soil.
Thematically, "Rituals of Anathematic East" draws
heavily from Slavic folklore and pre-Christian mysticism, but Ash Magick avoid
the trap of treating these concepts as mere window dressing. The lyrics, demonstrate a deep understanding of
their source material while crafting narratives that feel relevant to
contemporary anxieties. Songs like "The Bone Bridge Beckoning" and
"Wolves of the Forgotten Steppes" paint vivid pictures of landscapes
both physical and psychological, where ancient curses bleed into modern
despair.
The album's pacing shows remarkable maturity for a relatively young band. Rather than frontloading all their heaviest material, Ash Magick have structured "Rituals" like a proper journey into darkness. The crushing opener gives way to more atmospheric territory in the middle section, allowing breathing room for tracks like "The Kneeling Wretch" to build tension through restraint rather than volume. When the album roars back to life in its final third, the impact feels devastating.
The sound is massive without being overly compressed, allowing the music's natural dynamics to breathe while maintaining that crushing heaviness that modern extreme metal demands. The use of ambient textures and field recordings adds layers of atmosphere without overwhelming the core compositions. You can hear influences ranging from early Bathory to contemporary acts like Mgła, but Ash Magick have synthesized these elements into something distinctly their own.
"Rituals of Anathematic East" positions Ash Magick
as serious contenders in the crowded field of atmospheric black/death metal.
They've created something that honours the genre's traditions while pushing
forward into uncharted territory. This is music for the small hours of the
morning, when the veil between worlds grows thin and shadows take on lives of
their own.
Ash Magick have announced their presence
with authority, and the metal underground is richer for it.
Comments
Post a Comment