A three-piece atmospheric/melodic death-doom band from North Carolina, Atten Ash is the creation of founding member James Greene who wrote the foundations of the songs which would later become “The Hourglass.” In 2011 James began collaborating with Barre Gambling (founding guitarist of Daylight Dies) and Archie Hunt (vocalist/guitarist of Legion of the Fallen) and the trio continued the musical work: arranging songs, establishing vocal patterns, writing lyrics and guitar solos.
Recorded in 2012, an intricate and encapsulating death-doom portrait permeates Atten Ash’s first full-length recording. Rich in atmosphere, swaying through infectious melodies and razorsharp solos while displaying both melancholy and aggression with conviction and force, “The Hourglass” is the result of a band with considerable maturity and experience, already at the top of their craft, and with a defined vision for their sound placing them among the classic death-doom giants of the genre.
Those pining for genuine melodic/atmospheric death-doom for the dark and cold days ahead, and especially fans and listeners of bands such as Daylight Dies, Slumber, Katatonia, Woccon, Doom:vs, October Tide, and Helevorn (among others) would be wise to heed attention.
“The Hourglass” will be released on February 19, 2015 in a 4 panel digipack with a 12 page booklet through Hypnotic Dirge Records. The first 100 orders of the CD will also receive a free 11cm x 7cm Atten Ash sticker.
lyrics
lyrics adopted from the poem 'City in the Sea' by Edgar Allen Poe
Lo Death has reared himself a throne
the shadow city lies alone
No rays from the heavens down
On the long night of town
light from out the lurid sea
Streams up silently
up spires, up kingly halls
like Babylon's walls
There shrines, palaces and towers
undisturbed, by lifting winds forgot
Resigned beneath the sky
The melancholic waters lie.
There open fanes and gaping graves
Yawn with luminous waves
not the jewels that there lie
In each idol's diamond eye
No swellings tell that winds may pass
on this plain of glass
No heavings hint, that winds have been
On seas deathly serene.
There shrines, palaces and towers
undisturbed, by lifting winds forgot
Resigned beneath the sky
The melancholic waters lie.
The waves have now a redder glow
The hours are breathing faint and low
Down, down from underground
Hell, rising from a thousand thrones
credits
from The Hourglass,
track released February 19, 2015
Archie Hunt - Death vocals
James Greene - Clean vocals, guitars, bass, drums,
Barre Gambling - Guitars
Hypnotic Dirge Records is an independent record label and webshop based in Saskatchewan, Canada and Lisbon, Portugal active since 2008. Our intention and raison d'être is to release quality expressive and eclectic art through aural manifestations.
supported by 267 fans who also own “City in the Sea”
After listening to Ysyry Mollvün, listening to Downfall of Nur was urgent and turned out to be one of the best decisions I have made in quite some time: Umbras de Barbagia is simply magisterial; the atmosphere can hardly be compared to anything else. There is a deep, palpable connection to nature imbueing each very fibre of this record. The amalgamation of black metal and folk elements is done with a high intuition for detail and class, resulting in a highly immersive experience. Wonderful. David Fischer
supported by 267 fans who also own “City in the Sea”
PSA: if there was an album you heard a couple years ago and thought it was ok, listen to it again and you might love it.
That's what happened to me with this album. I cannot fathom why it didn't stick with me back then. Same thing happened with Decoherence's Unitarity for that matter. Matten
A foreboding black-doom metal dirge, meditating on a dark world caked in ash, resulting from all the Earth’s nuclear arsenal detonating at once. Bandcamp Album of the Day Jun 14, 2018