Review
Ash Borer
The Irrepassable Gate

Haunting, mournful, and soulful, Ash Borer dials in with a killer new slab of music with The Irrepassable Gate; and the band tosses down the gauntlet with a densely layered album that breathes and stretches and smolders and seethes in a gorgeous cacophony that hints at mystic imagery and hidden arcane knowledge. The four members of the band seemingly take their previous efforts to a new stage with this album, as the music is undeniably Ash Borer and forges their own path through the ether; but the songs have a wider palette of sound with rich tones and wicked riffs that stick with listeners for days, leaving us all with yet another slab to with which to feast, dine, and yes, maybe even laugh at death.

Moments exist in the waves of sound that inhabit the four sides of The Irrepassable Gate where the group reaches new levels of grandiosity, the heights at which few bands attain in the ferocity and fervor that their instruments are played (I imagine the guitarists’ bleeding all over their instruments as they feverishly strum their instruments while the drummer hammers the skins of his drums with all four limbs with sheer malice); do not for one second think that the sheer speed and velocity of the music is a replacement for technicality or precision execution of their instruments because Ash Borer does not sacrifice their craft for cheap brute force or lightning speed.

I sit here listening to The Irrepassable Gate for what has to be the thirty-third or maybe even the fiftieth time (the first with the vinyl version of the album, which came out absolutely exquisite with earth tones and two gold leafed columns that frame a view of weathered stone guardians that stand watch over an ancient looking doorway), and the record still surprises me with discoveries of nuances which had previously eluded my notice (such as the slow and moody section of “Lacerated Spirit” where the guitarists join in unison as the tempo just picks up the pace or when the band kicks into a nasty groove about three quarters of the way into “Grey Marrow” (and the effect is kicked into overdrive when the vocals drop) sounding like some kind of sci fi blues; but I would be remiss if the instrumental interludes (“Lustration I” and “Lustration II”) are not mentioned as a newer element that serves as evidence of Ash Borer pushing themselves into new avenues that echo previous and future musical motifs heard throughout The Irrepassable Gate.

Whenever someone asks me what Black Metal albums that they should check out, Ash Borer is always on that list; and The Irrepassable Gate is one more example that shows the band’s mastery of mood and sound that truly comes through in the elegant composition of their music, but the record also unleashes an exemplary heaviness that only adds to the contrast of what puts this group in the top tier of their craft.