NOWCR’s heavy-end Ashen Reach released their highly anticipated new EP, The Fear, today. I’ve been a fan of the band for a while now, seeing them a couple of times and seeing their name on bills all over the country. They have gotten quite a bit of momentum behind them, and I am certainly not the only one who has been impatiently anticipating this release! Let’s just jump right in, shall we?
‘Ghosts’ opens on a suitably heavy, almost metalcore riff, which is fantastic. I love the new sound growing at the minute that combines the heaviness and riffing of the genre with hard rock. Shadow Smile do the same, and it’s an incredible new sub-genre that I’m so shocked but glad has been adopted into the NWOCR movement for now. It also has a hint of symphonic metal, just a touch of Nightwish in there. And heck, even the symphonic-nu blend of Evanescence! The riffing is awesome, the vocals are powerful and infectiously catchy, and the strings in the back add to a HUGE sound. I love the odd scream that goes on, too. In fact, any time we get the backing vocals, it’s amazing. It’s a fantastic way to open the EP, and an easy track to make our playlist!
‘D1V1DE’ keeps the heaviness rolling with another awesome riff. Surprisingly though, it drops down into a stripped-back, clean-guitared verse. It almost gave off modern Avenged Sevenfold vibes with its experimental sound and structure. It all still builds to another massive, arena-filling chorus too, which I love. The screams through the second verse heavied it all up massively too, almost sounding extreme metal for a moment. I love the different sounds the band utilise, they really strive to do their own thing, it shows in their writing. It’s another fantastic track that I can’t get enough of!
‘Neophobia’ follows a surprisingly similar structure to the previous track, not that that’s in any way an issue. The duelling clean and harsh vocals in the verses are amazing, definitely metalcore-inspired. The band transition so cleanly from the heavy stuff to the huge, hard rock choruses, showcasing their exceptional talent at songwriting. And their performing is not to be sniffed at either, with the riffing, drumming and all vocals being incredible here. Everyone works their asses off to make this a truly fantastic, interesting song, and another that easily makes it onto our Spotify!
The most recent single, ‘The Dark’ has a bit of a slower pace and feels more like the ballad of the release. Having said that, it essentially has a breakdown for its second verse, the riff and screams being FILTHY and feel ripped straight from I Prevail or Electric Callboy. The slower pace if anything adds to the heaviness of it all, too. And the chorus is SO good. It’s gonna be stuck in me head for the rest of the day, easily. We even get an awesome little guitar solo tucked in the middle, which I love. And the actual breakdown at the end… DAMN. The third song playlisted and damn, it more than deserves it. This was fucking awesome!
And with that, we sadly already reach the final track, ‘Lost’. Honestly, the riff was awesome, having an almost black metal feel to it. However, outside of that, it does fade into the background ever so slightly. It’s still a fantastic track, don’t get me wrong; on any other release it’d be a huge highlight. If anything it just goes as a testament to the insanely high calibre of release this is, that a song this good is more of an overlooked gem. Still, it’s an amazing track and the perfect way to close out a release like this.
Overall: Wow. What a fucking EP! This is how you do a 20-minute release. I sometimes find it hard reviewing these, as they get samey and I get a touch bored. However, this blew me away from start to finish and the words just flowed out of me. I can’t get enough. As much as I love their previous stuff, this is the best music they have put out. It really is incredible, and with it the band seem primed to take a step into the mainstream. I didn’t want it to end, and fully hope we get a full album from the guys sooner rather than later. Every track was awesome and I’ll be listening to it over and over for weeks to come!
The score: 9.5/10