Rites of Ash Like Venom

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by Mark Allen
Staff Writer

Dig out your battered old blender from the cockroach-infested corner of your kitchen cabinet. Pour in some vodka. No need to be stingy; go with some Grey Goose. Off to a good start, right? Now add a bottle of Budweiser, toss in three strips of uncooked bacon, crack in a few raw eggs, chuck in some chocolate syrup, and top it all off with some saltwater taffy. Punch the puree button, hum along to the mechanical whir for a few moments, then dump the exotic sludge into a tall glass, sit back, and guzzle your way to tongue-tingling ecstasy. What’s that you say? No, thanks? Yeah, that’s probably what you’ll say after listening to this latest release from Rites of Ash, too.

Rites of Ash craft their musical monstrosity around a core of hard rock, but they then proceed to add electronica, dance, pop, industrial, scream-core, and practically every other subgenre you can think of and whip it all into a questionable concoction. There are the orchestral hints of Red, the sugary dance-pop of Lady Gaga, the guttural death metal screams of As I Lay Dying, the staccato rhythms of Linkin Park, the polished sheen of Endeverafter, and the industrialized rock of White Zombie. Sure, those are all fine taken on their own (well, except for Lady Gaga), but mix them all together and you get something less than palatable, the hard rock equivalent of a casserole made from week-old leftovers found in the fridge.

That said, kudos to the band for bucking a modern rock system that is enslaved to the doctrine of sameness and slavishly loyal to the erroneous creed that all mainstream rock should sound alike. Rites of Ash, for all their faults, dare to be different and strive for something unique. Sure, in their quest to be cutting edge they kind of fall flat on their face, unfortunately, but their lofty goals are still laudable. If only Rites of Ash had been able to coax a better sound out of the legion of styles they borrow from, hard rock connoisseurs would have had something memorable on their hands.

But instead of memorable we get, at best, mediocrity. Lead vocalist 80-Two (yes, that’s the name listed in the liner notes) has a “normal” singing voice that sounds better suited to a Maroon 5 cover band than a hard rock act, but then he’ll spice it up with some throat-bleeding screams that would make Tim Lambesis sit up and take notice, before switching gears again and channeling the falsetto melodies of Fred Mercury. Like the band itself, 80-Two dabbles in too many varying vocal styles, negatively impacting the overall listening experience.

Aside from the see-how-many-genres-we-can-mash-together-gimmick, nothing about this album stands out. The guitar work is fine, but nothing special. The drums show up as required, but make no effort to do anything more than the basics (it doesn’t help that half the time they’re hammering out electronic dance beats). The hooks display some occasional commercial catchiness, but nothing you haven’t heard before and heard better. Matter of fact, even within the narrow scope of this hybrid hard rock subgenre, you’ve probably heard better; Blessed By A Broken Heart took a shot at this sort of thing a few years back and nailed it.

Bottom line, Rites of Ash have a few decent qualities—and a commendable desire to go against the grain—but the whole is definitely worse than the sum of its parts. Your ears have been poisoned by worse bands, of that there is no doubt, but in the end you’re better off avoiding this one like a venomous reptile.

Genre: Pop/dance/hard rock hybrid

Band:
80-Two (vocals/keyboards)
Lazzo (guitars/keyboards/programming)
Lumer (drums/percussion)
Berry (bass)

Track Listing
1. Only Human
2. Redemption
3. Toxic (Her Lips are Like Venom)
4. Burn
5. Dead Side of Hollywood
6. Three Leaf Clover
7. The Sleeper
8. Disaffected
9. Breathless
10. Weight of My World
11. Hand Grenade Heart

www.ritesofash.com

Independent release

Hardrock Haven rating: 5.2