Taeng's Take: ASHES OF ARES

Remember, I love Heavy Metal, too! Horns Up!

ASHES OF ARES

Matthew Barlow: Vocals
Freddie Vidale: Guitars
Van Williams: Drums

Former Iced Earth vocalist (and part time police officer!) is back with a project that is truly his: ASHES OF ARES.


Excerpted from blabbermouth.net:

DeadRhetoric.com: Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is the first band that is "your" band. ICED EARTH was Jon's [Schaffer] band, and you joined PYRAMAZE well into their existence. This has to be a different type of feeling for you, right? 

Barlow: That's the whole thing. I've said this before: it really is for the first time being in total creative control of lyrics and vocal melodies. That's a big deal for me. It's a big step, but without Freddie writing the music — he wrote 99.9 however much of the music — it would be different. I'm a music writer, but not writer per se. I did write the basis for "Move The Chains", but my guitar playing sucks [laughs], but Freddie made it sound like actual guitar playing, and I did "The Answer", which I wrote acoustically. It's really more… I'm going to take the hits — good or bad — as far as lyrics and melodies because it is all me. Freddie wrote 99.9 [percent], however much of the music, but it's really this collaborative effort. Van took the ideas we had and wrote these cool drum parts that we didn't even think of — it changed the dynamic of the songs. It's a really cool joint collaboration, and we're really proud.

Here's my first-impression down-and-dirty track by track assessment:

THE MESSENGER
This one starts out slow and actually fades out before the double kick drums come out to pretty much bludgeon you senseless. A so-so intro with the hope thar maybe they started with the weakest stuff first.

MOVE THE CHAINS
YES! Matthew Barlow's bellowing growling vocals against the driving midtempo rhythm section is just the thing. Let the headbanging begin! Very Iced Earth-like.

ON WARRIOR'S WINGS
Keeping the midtempo with a melancholy feel. Acoustic guitars and heavy drum beat frame Barlow's vocals well. I still cannot help but draw comparison to I.E.'s "Watching Over Me" (which is a better song) until the riffs increase in speed and I swear that Barlow's passionate growls get even lower. Somewhat dramatic but still a pretty good song.

PUNISHMENT
Warbling bass (?) line intro, tribal-like drums, muddled whisper-speak give way to yet another midtempo cruncher. Not as cool as the previous "Move the Chains" but, man, if this were performed live all would be headbanging to the plodding beat and thrashing to the eight-legged-drummer's bass drums. Growling still present, and here to stay, I presume.

THIS IS MY HELL
Barlow's vocals seem to punch you in the stomach with every track. Even though there's an acoustic verse in this one, Barlow's signature low tones just grab you and shake you like a sonic earthquake. And I mentioned "Passion" previously, right? That's also present in every vocal he does. As much as I'd like to comment on the band backing him up, I get caught up in his vocals ALL THE TIME, with every track. At least with Iced Earth I could acknowledge founder Jon Shaffer's awesome axe-wielding. Here, its ALL Matthew Barlow.

DEAD MAN'S PLIGHT
Growl, growl growl. I still like it. At least I was able to pay attention to the guitar solo this time. Did Barlow take a water break?

CHALICE OF MAN
Thrash lives! Drummer gets a workout (as he does on all the songs). More growl. Not tired of it yet. Hey, some demonic vocals! And yet it sounds like more growling.

THE ANSWER (including an acoustic version as a bonus last track)
The lower tone of Barlow's vocals come across as melancholy when he wants to be melodic and it works out well. Seems his forte (other than growls) are songs of the sad sort.
Acoustic version showcases Barlow's vocals nicely.

WHAT I AM
More demonic growls. Matt Barlow is the Baskin-Robbins of growls:31 different flavors!

ONE-EYED KING
The closing track keeps the tempo in the midrange, like before. And yes, growl, growl growl.

I didn't set out to be a Matthew Barlow fanboy, but it sure sounds like I am. His vocals tend to overpower the band playing with him and its a little sad. But when I heard the Matt was the vocalist for this project, it was the single reason for me to check this out. On that level, he does not disappoint. But the band suffers a little because of his sonic presence and Iced Earth history.
Funny thing is that guitarist Freddie Vidale is a civil engineer (read: day job) and octo-drummer Van Williams is a new papa so it would seem that these guys are weekend warriors. Nothing wrong with that! If you can mosh and still keep your day job and your family, more power to you!
Final Shot: I actually like this album as a whole. MOVE THE CHAINS is my favorite track as of this writing. As an Iced Earth fan I am both happy and sad....this is a good album but where does this leave Iced Earth?
And...is this what a police man thinks of when he's on duty?