Warhorse – As Heaven Turns To Ash

1. Dusk
2. Doom’s Bride
3. Black Acid Prophecy
4. Amber Vial
5. Every Flower Dies No Matter The Thorns (Wither)
6. Lysergic Communion
7. Dawn
8. Scrape
9. …And The Angels Begin To Weep…
10. I Am Dying
11. Horizons Burn Red
” may not sound all that unique by today’s standards, but in 2001 “” just wasn’t something you heard every day. It’s pretty easy to figure out from which wells drew their inspiration: Black Sabbath, Sleep, and Eyehategod. In 2015, you’re going to look at that list and think “So? There are hundreds if not thousands of bands in that camp, and I’ve gotten my fill of it over the last 10 years”. That’s a fair point. It’s hard to argue that as of this writing, doom with stoner tendencies is a well-worn style and bands have needed to add more and more into the mix to come up with a fresh approach. There have been a few that have made stripped-down, basic doom in the Sleep and Eyehategod traditions work, though they’re often the exception rather than the rule.”
“Were “” to be released in 2015 for the first time, it would succeed in that same way, with the added benefit of a much larger audience for their style. It would be in a league with 2014 standouts Conan and Ommadon and the reason, much like “” itself is simple: execution. Especially for its time, but even now; knew how to craft a deep fucking tone. If you told me that the guitars were tuned to a previously non-existent z flat and played through a baritone guitar, I’d believe you. The drums are given plenty of weight in both performance and in production. In a way, this album should serve as the bar which all bands in a similar style should strive to meet, at least production-wise.”
“The song writing here is strong, despite being deeply indebted to its influences. It also helps that whenever it sounds like the album might be stuck in a groove or idea for too long, the band knows when to include a softer dynamic break or change the emotional tone enough to keep things from getting stale. There are several softer instrumental pieces throughout the album, and along with the subtle diversions sprinkled in throughout the bulk of the album, they manage to avoid letting the bloom fall off the rose.”
“I’m not entirely certain what ended after just one full length and a few EPs. I’d certainly speculate that it’s possible they just had the one album in them. The two songs from the “I Am Dying” EP that came out the following year (also included in this reissue as bonus tracks) suggest that were kinda running in place. Even on “”, nearly twenty minutes of the album had been recorded in demo form around three years earlier. It would be safe to say that even considering the brief window of time they were together; wasn’t a terribly prolific band. They came together and created one great album’s worth of material and moved on. You’d have to try pretty damned hard not to respect that.”
The Sludgelord, Daniel Jackson
2LP album
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