Hailing from the sunny climbs of the Australian Western coastline, Perth death metal four piece Ashen have arisen once again to serve noxious riffs and addictive grooves dripping with old school menace. Following on from their impressive 2023 debut album Ritual Of Ash and support slots with the likes of Skeletal Remains, Nile and Fleshgod Apocalypse, the aussie quartet have returned with their accomplished second full length entitled Leave The Flesh Behind. Bolstered by an unfussy yet clear production courtesy of The Crown’s Marko Tervonen, Leave The Flesh Behind is composed of ten ferocious tracks of classic, evil drenched death metal, centred on themes of what darkness lies beyond this this mortal world when we shed our physical form.
Opening with the punishing ‘Devourer’, Ashen immediately make it clear they’re a force to be reckoned with; “Depart from existence, the certainty of death consumes” roars vocalist Richard Clements over bruising riffage and commanding grooves, recalling Domination era Morbid Angel and mid-2000’s Cannibal Corpse. Indeed, similar to these bands, it’s the infectious, direct nature of the tracks that make Ashen such a rewarding listen, like on the Carcass recalling “Ancestral Gate”, the drum heavy, chug-laden closer “Blood Offering” and the addictive title track.
Noticeable throughout is guitarist Shannon Over, who lays down some deliciously evil and claustrophobic guitar work on the malevolently atmospheric “Aeon”, some straight up evil chugging on the aforementioned “Blood Offering” and an earth shattering solo on “Ageless”. At times, vocalist Clements approaches Corpsegrinder realms of savagery with his commanding gutturals, whilst bassist John Harris and sticksman Ben Mazarrol lay down one hell of a solid backbone to proceedings, the pummeling brutal grooves of “Ageless” a testament to their skills. In fact what’s apparent throughout the entire album is just how well all four members lock in, giving the album a wonderful flow and consistency. All this is tightly bound and presented within some absolutely killer artwork by greek digital artist Giannis Nakos too, with its skull adorned, slime green Lovecraftian cover.
Ashen aren’t reinventing the wheel here, but they don’t need to – this is OSDM, it’s all about the songs, the riffs and carving out your own identity within that genre. They’ve clearly honed their songwriting skills since their debut, and with Leave The Flesh Behind have delivered an album of memorable, lean old school death metal that whilst offering nods to its influences is undoubtedly injected with their own cosmic horror laden flair. With any luck Leave The Flesh Behind will see Ashen reach an even wider audience, because this will undoubtedly be seen as one of the year’s finest death metal releases.
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Leave The Flesh Behind is out 22nd August via Redefining Darkness Records
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