Ash the Sky is the brainchild of Mike Felder, recording essentially everything himself whilst on the hunt for musicians, Mike is a California native now located in the North East of England. This 3 song demo is a self-described heavy thrash death metal opus, this is true. What I wasn’t really prepared for was the volume and its impact. Right from the opener ‘Let Freedom Ring’, Ash the Sky pummel you (akin to some of Chimera’s music) with the vocal conducted by Mike himself is perfectly palatable, I don’t see any reason to find a new singer if I am picking bones here! The overall feel is of adrenaline, with foundations cemented in heavy thrash, maybe minor flourishes with metalcore. The guitar riffs (on 7 stringed guitars) have a warm earthy tone, so when the solo’s start, the rakes and fretboard majesty on display is perfectly captured. What I do find is I am still engrossed by the first track, having pressed repeat quite a number of times a facet in the use of melody that results in a free flowing appeal to the recording.
‘No Mercy’ builds from its start, but takes a little bit more time to get into too. In the bio, Mike has been out of the music world for a couple of years, although continuing to write material, you can hear some of these ideas are in fact from a couple of years ago. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but the music industry is fickle and trend orientated, the musicians amongst you have to applaud this material even if the internet generation would simply whine and moan about it on blogs and websites as they tend to do. There are many undertones, many riffs that could be missed by the casual listener, in that respect. ‘Conflict’ ends the demo, and it is that word demo I have difficulty with, this is a demo? The thing is boys and girls, this is a really good recording, the sound is immense, it sounds like a seasoned full length 2 or 3 albums down the line, but again, you expect this in 2012, but a genuine surprising thought leads to having much respect and acknowledgment to Ash the Sky. Going back into ‘Conflict’, that aforementioned talent of melody and delivery comes to the forefront. The guitar solo style of playing actually reminds me of Gizz Butt (The More I See/English Dogs), the way it goes all around and up and down the neck, Mike is a seasoned musician for sure and he has a keen ear for what people want to hear.
For all those big hitters out there in the music industry, there are a few contenders to their throne, it is just a matter of circumstance and location, Ash The Sky and this demo is one of those releases that deserves a massive amount of credit, and more importantly, a good amount of record label support, I just hope a full band is formed soon so as not to miss any opportunities that could come their way. Ash the Sky are a tight as fuck and heavy as hell with a keen talent for melody, Ash The Sky delivers a titanic trio of metal anthems on this demo that is more akin to a big selling album. Thumbs up!
(7.5/10 Paul Maddison)
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