From The Ashes is their debut recording, a demo recorded live at Base Studios in Stourbridge (West Midlands) earlier this month.
The band have a very heavy sound, quite bassy, but very clear and also quite melodic. One of the first things that I noticed is that Dave Horan manages to keep his vocals very melodic, and never resorts to ineligible growling as do many other bands that play similar music to Eyes Of The Raven.
For a band that has only really been together for a few months (the lineup was completed Autumn 2009 when James McHugh (lead guitar) joined up with fellow band members Dave Horan (vocals), Damon Cartwright (drums), Matt Walters (bass) and Ross Pickett (Rhythm guitar / Vocals), the songs are very well structured, and well just seem to flow.
From the Ashes brings us six tracks,
‘I’m Gone’ - a mid to up tempo grinding metal track, live these riff’s must be brutal!
‘Cause and Effect’ – a heavy up tempo rocker, again some great riffs and some interesting tempo changes.
‘From The Ashes’ - title track of the demo, and a great little song, musically quite melodic, yet still very heavy!
‘Reflections’ – a great number any band would be proud of, gentle guitar intro with a nice solo over the top, before breaking into a real ass kicker of a track with some riff Metallica would be proud of!
‘Echoes’ – The opening of this track feels very familiar, it has a real traditional metal maybe even NWOBHM feel to it, again another example of the bands softer side showing that they are not just all about bone crunching riffs.
‘My Life’ – closing track, is an up tempo rocker, bone crunchingly heavy.
Every song has its own appeal but I would have to say that the standouts for me are the last four, but although the songs are great, and the band as tight as you can get, the demo has its faults!
Production wise mainly, most of the time the lead guitar is way too low in the mix, barely audible at times, and the same can be said too for Ross’s backing vocals as for most of the songs they seem to get buried beneath the bass and rhythm guitar, on a personal note I’d love the rhythm guitar to have a cleaner sound, less bassy and sludgy. A good producer could really give the songs the platform that these songs clearly deserve, but even with the production they have the quality of the songs shines through.
If you like your music heavy, then I see no reason why you won’t love Eyes Of The Raven.
From The Ashes is available to download for free from the bands website, go on check it out you’ve nothing too loose!
Website - http://eyesoftheraven.freeiz.com/
Rating – For the band and songs 9/10
For the production 4/10
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