{"id":38814,"date":"2014-03-27T06:50:18","date_gmt":"2014-03-27T11:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=38814"},"modified":"2014-03-27T06:50:18","modified_gmt":"2014-03-27T11:50:18","slug":"ashen-horde-sanguinum-vindicta-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/ashen-horde-sanguinum-vindicta-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Ashen Horde | Sanguinum Vindicta<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Derric Miller<\/span>
\n– Managing Editor —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"AshenFor some reason\u2014OK, many good ones\u2014Black Metal bands seem to write about \u201cwinter.\u201d And not a Frosty the Snowman type winter, but an \u201ceverything is dead and bleak\u201d Samhain sort of winter. New band Ashen Horde nods at those classic stereotypes on the opening track and closing track, but the rest of the album is a bit of a new spin on what you\u2019d expect from a Black Metal band \u2026 in a good way. <\/p>\n

\u201cMidwinter\u2019s Lust\u201d has the elements you\u2019d expect from Black Metal, and the frenzied riffs and manic vocals boil the blood. And while the band is one man, Trevor Portz, the fact he pulls off something that seamlessly sounds like a full unit will impress anyone. He\u2019s also the lyricist, and Sanguinum Vindicta<\/em> offers a narrative thread that you\u2019ll have to follow the lyrics to understand. (The title translates into \u201cbloody vengeance\u201d so there\u2019s a good hint for you \u2026)<\/p>\n

\u201cBaited Breath\u201d owns one of the coolest riffs you\u2019ll ever hear on a Black Metal composition. In fact, it\u2019s so good, you\u2019ll hear almost the exact chord progression later on the track \u201cTrail of Blood.\u201d By now, the female antagonist has morphed from an earthly goddess into a monster filled with self-loathing, and at the end of the song, the question she faces is \u201cto die a self-inflicted martyr or live a life of failed revenge.\u201d The chunky riffing, followed by musical passages of searing speed, circle back to that riff to end the best song on the album. <\/p>\n

Portz has a bit of a sense of humor, even on a Black Metal release, and \u201cMind Over Slaughter\u201d is one way he shows it. That\u2019s just the title, though. This is one of the most brutal compositions on the release, and he matches the violent music with lyrics like \u201cShe touches her victim, seemingly lifeless, with every systole she salivates \u2026 a single taste of withered flesh, a surge of power in every cell.\u201d Like Cannibal Corpse, Ashen Horde isn\u2019t afraid to give biology lessons lyrically.<\/p>\n

Things get otherworldly on \u201cThe Burden of Sorrow,\u201d and more so on \u201cTrail of Blood,\u201d with passages like \u201chidden deep under shredded victims \u2026 she sees the marching horrors, an army dead, but living on,\u201d and \u201cas darkness slams the moonlight, shaded by a thousand leather wings.\u201d The antagonist, who goes back and forth between wanting to die or wanting to destroy the entire world had her decision made for her. <\/p>\n

When you get to \u201cThe Gauntlet,\u201d again, this movie is painted with painful lyrics and a bludgeoning soundtrack, the main character decides to turn savior again and control the abomination she released upon the world. It all ends full circle on the throbbing, bleak \u201cMidwinter\u2019s Loss,\u201d and how do you think Black Metal stories will end?<\/p>\n

Sanguinum Vindicta<\/em> is an impressive semi-debut from Ashen Horde. (The band put out an EP earlier.) Longtime fans of Black Metal may wonder where the hell this band has been, because in any genre, things can become formulaic, while Ashen Horde certainly isn\u2019t. Even from a production standpoint, everything shines although you may not want to see the landscape Portz has painted in entrails, corpses and congealed blood for you. On that note, if you are a fan of this type of extreme music, especially one with a story to tell, Sanguinum Vindicta<\/em> should be your jam. It is also unique enough to entice those who veer away from the extreme sounds of Black Metal too. <\/p>\n

Genre: Black Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nTrevor Portz \u2014 Everything on the album is just Trevor<\/p>\n

Track listing:
\nMidwinter\u2019s Lust
\nBaited Breath
\nSmoke and Shadows
\nMind Over Slaughter
\nThe Burden of Sorrow
\nSacrificial Devotion
\nTrail of Blood
\nAnguished Prey
\nThe Gauntlet
\nMidwinter\u2019s Loss<\/p>\n

Label: Mandol Records<\/p>\n

Online: ashenhorde.bandcamp.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Derric Miller – Managing Editor — For some reason\u2014OK, many good ones\u2014Black Metal bands seem to write about \u201cwinter.\u201d And not a Frosty the Snowman type winter, but an \u201ceverything is dead and bleak\u201d […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":38816,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[9030,9032,2317,9031,9033],"class_list":{"0":"post-38814","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-ashen-horde","9":"tag-black-metal","10":"tag-cd-review","11":"tag-sanguinum-vindicta","12":"tag-trevor-portz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}