In cleaning out my studio recently, I had a chance to rediscover a whole box of tapes and cd's I'd completely forgotten about. These were demo's and live/rarities bootlegs from the early 90's, when I used to work as a music reviewer for a small local rag. As I popp'ed a few of them in, I was shocked to find that most were actually really good! So, instead of devoting my this review to a new cd, I thought I'd take my first stab at what I might make a series: Forgotten Demos.
First up, we have the band Ashengrace with their debut album, "Drawing Down the Moon", self-released in 1997. I'm actually a bit amazed to discover that these guys are still around and still making music. Big praises, right off the bat, for that!
Ashengrace really brings back a great time in dark guitar music. Heavily influenced by the shoegazer movement, goth acts were picking up on the lush wall of guitar sound and bands like Lycia and Lovespiralsdownwards started coming out with amazing albums which combined this sound into something completely their own, now called "ethereal goth". Though not central to this whole movement, Ashengrace definitely deserve a place in it's story. Drenched in reverbed-out guitars and whispered vocals, they have a sound that typifies the genre. Even if it's not completely original, I can hear a lot of the Slowdive album "Just for a Day" as well as the Lycia record "Ionia" in "Drawing..", it's well-produced and showcases some excellent musicianship, along with a good deal more bite and aggression than your average ethereal album. I would definitely suggest this album for fans of Projekt Records, ethereal goth or someone looking to find out more about it.
More info available at:
http://personal.riverusers.com/~ashengrace/
Article comments