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ASHES OF ARES “New Messiahs”
ASHES OF ARES “New Messiahs”
By Iron Sheik
We have heavy! We have melodic! We have progressive! We have power!
ASHES OF ARES alights with their latest great offering: “New Messiahs”. Landing from Newburgh, New York the band consists of Matt Barlow (vocals) and Freddie Vidales (guitars and bass) who are former members of ICED EARTH. Kyle Taylor guests as the drummer. Together they have created a great album that rocks from beginning to end, and although they have explored newer territory with each release, in 2025 they offer up further exploration with more personal wisdom in their fine tuned masterpiece, “New Messiahs”.
“Novus Ordo”, the intro to the album ,builds as it leads into the title track “New Messiahs”. Get ready as their "vision is clear now" and they'll "show you the way." As they further tell you "we've come to save you." “Two Graves” keeps the breakneck speed going. Imparting that "there will be no answers." and further insisting you to heed that "vengeance will not heal you." “Where You Go” tells you "wherever you go I will be with you to the end." Further giving voice to the unspoken in that "we all seem so lost without one another." While the "cold washes over us as we begin our journey" they further implore to "let our love show us the way." Quite an epic. “Wake Of Vultures” quickens the pace. You are told you "cannot see if not awake."
“Atrophy” is the fastest track on the album….speed metal with class! Like a dog who has marked it's territory you are told to "look at what we've done here." “Keep On Walkin'” is a semi-power ballad. Reliving how "since before you were talking, I've been right here with you walking...and now you give your love away." Feeling cast aside in that "my love is now forgotten." “The Hawk And The Dove” picks up the pace a bit. "The Hawk will be there to deliver you, a true friend to the end." “Lust To Feed” keeps the upbeat pace going. "So once again you're my obsession" and "God won't save you from my lust..this addiction's overwhelming." I feel it is a great tale of a child as it grows told from a parent's perspective. It's a sad song of love and the loss thereof. “From Hell He Rides” has some cool operatic vocals and screams. It is double bass drum and full speed we ride (into the sunset!?)!
As above, so below: greatness and heaviness! Matt, Freddie and Kyle have set down one of the years potentially top ten albums for me. There is something to be said of that Phoenix sun for producing albums as it has been a part of numerous rock artists and records over the years. Now ASHES OF ARES have recorded there, and they have come up with “New Messiahs”. Intense and layered. Great! Heavy!
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