ASHES OF ARES — Ashes of Ares (review)

ASHES OF ARES — Ashes of Ares album cover Album · 2013 · US Power Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"Ashes of Ares" is the self-titled debut full-length studio album by US power metal act Ashes of Ares. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in September 2013. Ashes of Ares are a three-piece consisting of Matt Barlow (ex-Iced Earth, ex-Pyramaze) on vocals, Freddie Vidales (ex-Iced Earth) on guitars and bass, and Van Williams (ex-Nevermore) on drums. All three guys are very prolific musicians on the US power metal scene. So I guess the term US power metal "supergroup" is valid to use here.

The music on "Ashes of Ares" is classic US power metal featuring both traditional heavy metal elements and a couple of more thrashy moments. To my ears the guitars and the bass are pretty ordinary for the genre, but the drumming by Van Williams is great and a bit more adventurous than what you normally hear on an US power metal release. It´s lead vocalist Matt Barlow that takes the prize here though. It´s not that his strong vocal performance or powerful and distinct sounding voice is a surprise if you´re familiar with his output with Iced Earth and Pyramaze, but I´m still blown away by how great he is every time I hear him sing. He is incredibly talented and is capable of singing both high pitched notes and deeper more raw vocals.

The material on the album is pretty standard for the genre. There is little here that´ll surprise a seasoned US power metal listener, but it´s never been a genre of music that hailed innovation, so most listeners probably don´t care one bit if I characterize the music as slightly generic. The tracks generally work really well though and several of the anthemic choruses are stuck in my mind after the album has finished. So overall this is a great debut album by Ashes of Ares. I have a slight issue with the sound production which affects my rating though. The drums feature quite a horrible reverb laden production that gives them an unpleasant artificial sound, that doesn´t suit the music well and quite frankly I end up consentrating way too much on the weak drum sound instead of enjoying the music. Therefore a half star comes off my rating and my final rating is a 3.5 star (70%) rating.
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