Bio:
In
a time where doom is flourishing in all directions and manners, Southern Lord exhumed the sole full-length from Massachusetts'
Warhorse. Long out of print, rabidly sought after, and
unconditionally vital in foreshadowing the plethora of current acts who partake
in long form, recklessly downtuned sound voyages, 2001's ‘As Heaven Turns To Ash’ was reissued on double LP and digital formats on
February 24th, 2015 combined with their final 7" EP, I Am Dying.
Formed
in 1996 and lasting the best part of a decade, Warhorse
wallow deep down, grooving at the kind of frequency usually associated with
imminent natural disaster. But in addition to their intricate delivery, Warhorse possesses an experimental, verging on psychedelic
streak which gave rise to gritty and memorable riffs, and saw them sharing
stages with the iconic likes of Electric Wizard, Khanate, Acid
King, High On Fire and Unearthly Trance.
‘As Heaven Turns To Ash’
and ‘I Am Dying’ are sinister
demonstrations of ultra-heavy riffs as a weapon, and with Southern Lord
delivered a stellear rerelease, doom
fans worldwide will need to start saving pennies for the subwoofer damage they
are sure to inflict. Today we are rewinding the riffs back a mere 2 years in order present “As
Heaven Turns To Ash’. So
if you missed it the first time or even following its reissue in 2015, be sure
to remedy your error by checking out our review in full below.
By: Daniel Jackson
Album Type: Full-Length
Date Released: 29/09/2001
(24/02/2015
for the reissue)
Label: Southern
Lord
Were ‘As Heaven Turns To
Ash’ to be released in 2017 for the first time, it would be in a
league with 2014 standouts Conan and Ommadon and the reason, much like
‘As Heaven Turns To Ash’ itself
is simple: execution. Especially for its time, but even now; Warhorse knew how to craft
a deep fucking tone.
If you told me that the guitars were tuned to a previously non-existent z flat
and played through a baritone guitar, I’d believe you.
‘As Heaven Turns To Ash’ DLP//DD track
listing:
1.
Dusk
2.
Doom's Bride
3.
Black Acid Prophecy
4.
Amber Vial
5.
Every Flower Dies No Matter The Thorns (Whither)
6.
Lysergic Communion
7.
Dawn
8.
Scrape
9.
And The Angels Begin To Weep
I Am Dying EP:
1.
I Am Dying
2.
Horizons Burn Red
The Review:
Warhorse may not sound all that unique by
today’s standards, but in 2001 ‘As Heaven
Turns To Ash’ just wasn’t something you heard every day. It’s pretty easy
to figure out from which wells Warhorse drew their
inspiration: Black Sabbath, Sleep,
and Eyehategod. In 2017, you’re going to look at
that list and think “So? There are hundreds if not thousands of bands in that
camp, and I’ve gotten my fill of it over the last 10 years”. That’s a fair
point. It’s hard to argue that as of this writing, doom with stoner tendencies
is a well-worn style and bands have needed to add more and more into the mix to
come up with a fresh approach. There have been a few that have made
stripped-down, basic doom in the Sleep and Eyehategod traditions work, though they’re often the
exception rather than the rule.
Were
‘As Heaven Turns To Ash’ to be
released in 2017 for the first time, it would succeed in that same way, with
the added benefit of a much larger audience for their style. It would be in a
league with 2014 standouts Conan and Ommadon and the reason, much like ‘As Heaven Turns To Ash’ itself is simple: execution. Especially for
its time, but even now; Warhorse knew how to
craft a deep fucking tone. If you told me that the guitars
were tuned to a previously non-existent z flat and played through a baritone
guitar, I’d believe you. The drums are given plenty of weight in both
performance and in production. In a way, this album should serve as the bar
which all bands in a similar style should strive to meet, at least
production-wise.
The
song writing here is strong, despite being deeply indebted to its influences.
It also helps that whenever it sounds like the album might be stuck in a groove
or idea for too long, the band knows when to include a softer dynamic break or
change the emotional tone enough to keep things from getting stale. There are
several softer instrumental pieces throughout the album, and along with the
subtle diversions sprinkled in throughout the bulk of the album, they manage to
avoid letting the bloom fall off the rose.
I’m
not entirely certain what ended Warhorse after just one
full length and a few EPs. I’d certainly speculate that it’s possible they just
had the one album in them. The two songs from the ‘I Am Dying’ EP that came out the following year (also included in
this reissue as bonus tracks) suggest that Warhorse were kinda
running in place. Even on ‘As Heaven
Turns To Ash’, nearly twenty minutes of the album had been recorded in demo
form around three years earlier. It would be safe to say that even considering
the brief window of time they were together; Warhorse
wasn’t a terribly prolific band. They came together and created one great
album’s worth of material and moved on. You’d have to try pretty damned hard
not to respect that.
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