Chuck Schuldiner Project

Monday, January 8, 2024

Theophonos - Ashes In The Huron River


Now this is an interesting one. Theophonos are a sort of avant garde blackened death metal project on Profound Lore, and their new album, Ashes In The Huron River is an impressive offering, that is intense, broad in scope and speaks ot a much darker side of the human condition. It's hard not to get lost in its weird and bleak ramblings that navigate all sorts of unique sonic highways in a mission to drag listeners deeper into a pit of sonic despair. The end result is some pretty damn compelling stuff any way you slice it. 

Ashes In The Huron River is a stunner because of the depth of the compositions. Despite relatively stripped back arrangements, Theophonos really reward multiple listens. Of particular note is the drum performances which are absolutely electric on songs like "An Elegy". The production has a sort of old school extreme metal flair to it too which helps to make Theophonos feel like a much grander project, one that transcends the sum of its parts and is couched in a sort of darker, transcendent world of metal wizardry. The way the album dances back and forth between stunning melodicism and crippling riffage is a testimony to this vision. 

Theophonos is a truly interesting project. The music seems to consistently drive itself forward and delve into bold new passages. Ashes In The Huron River is a very ambitious record, but it's one that seems to meet many of its core goals, maintaining a consistent vibe whilst bringing in a variety of different elements ranging from post metal and hip hop to hardcore and black metal. While the band never really sonically strays far from the world of extreme metal it's interesting to delve into a release that so eagerly borrows from different ideas than the norm. Dig in when it drops February 9th. 

Pre-order the album!

https://theophonos.bandcamp.com/album/ashes-in-the-huron-river

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