Ashes To New Album ‘The Future’ Review
- May 9, 2018
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This album dropped on the 20th and you may be thinking “Well you are behind the 8 ball in regards to reviewing it.” But when I listen to a new album I like to listen to it numerous times over numerous days in order to get a real feel for the album. If the artist or band takes months to record and put their heart and soul into it, the least I can do is spend some real time listening to it. Because, in all honesty an album review is just a person’s personal opinion of someone’s body of work.
So, what do I hear? I hear a solid rock album. Some reviewers talk about albums the way a person talks about a painting or a glass of wine. It has a nice body, crisp, with a solid acidity. I mean really? What does all the mean? I need to know what it all means to the layman. Tell me about the album so that I know what I am getting in so I know if I want to buy it.
So, let’s get into this.
First, I want to address the elephant in the room. When you hear this album you may want to lump them immediately in with Linkin Park. Don’t.
However, besides rapping with rock music From Ashes to New does NOT sound like Linkin Park (and I am a Linkin Park fan). First their guitar and drum work is far superior. If you listen to the two bands side by side you will notice that Linkin Parks guitar work is much simpler. Lance Dowdle and Matt Brandyberry really have to be given props for some great guitar riffs on this album. The drum work is technical but tasteful. I really applaud Mat Madiro. While every other rock and metal band is packing their songs with as much double base as possible Mat is making it more about the beat, the feel, the song and less about him.
When I look at the album as a whole it tells a story. The Album is called The Future and then each song is a step –
Wake Up – Broken – Nowhere to Run – Let Go – On My Own – The Future……It deserves to be listened to from start to finish over and over again in order to get the real feel for the entire body of work.
The Album has 11 tracks and they are
Wake Up @ 3:50
Crazy @ 3:05
My Name @ 3:42
Gone Forever @ 3:54
Broken @ 3:20
Forgotten @ 3:50
Enemy @ 3:16
Nowhere to Run @ 3:34
Let Go @ 3:54
On My Own @ 3:22
The Future @ 3:45
I could go through every track and talk up every one but honestly that isn’t my style. I am going to tell you which ones stood out to me as some of the top tracks.
The first track “Wake Up”. Immediately, the guitar grabs you from the beginning. It makes your feet immediately start to tap. It just has that urgency in it. Which is great for a song called “Wake Up”. What I also love about this song is that there is not an overuse of the double base, which unfortunately can drown out a great song. “Wake Up” is solid musicianship from beginning to end with a great hook. I can easily see this being a radio friendly song.
The second song is “Crazy” and to be honest I really appreciate when a song starts off stripped down. It starts off by highlighting the vocals. The song has a nice hook. It has a nice balance between rock and rap.
“Broken” is the song that you are going to turn on when you want to get really pumped up. The guitar drives you and the vocals push your emotions even further so you have the need to just move. This is the song you want to listen to while you are working out, cleaning the house, anything that you need to listen to that is going to keep pushing you to push yourself. You get a slight reprieve at 2:10 but that just gives you an excuse to stop and take a drink before it picks you back up and throws you back against the wall.
“Let Go”. I love the riff. It sounds like he is picking fast with a delay but whatever it is I love it. It gives the song punch. Add the vocals on top of that and this song is a hit. I can hear this on rock stations and on pop stations. If you think that From Ashes to New sounds like Linkin Park then you need to listen to this song to see just how wrong you are.
“On My Own” is an anthem. It’s the song that everyone in the crowd is going to be jumping to and singing to. The mesh of the singing with the rapping is perfect in this song. “I am never letting go. I can make it on my own.” This is the song that we can all relate to and that will resonate with the entire audience.
Below is the bands press release about the album and I think you will notice that the album does indeed follow a battle and coming out on the other side.
The future is something that all of us must deal with yet it’s often uncertain and that was certainly the case when it came to the making of From Ashes To New’s sophomore full-length The Future. “We went through the most extreme level of adversity that anyone can go through while creating this album, explains the band’s vocalist/keyboardist/programmer Matt Brandyberry. “Pretty much anything that could go wrong to slow down the process and throw you a curveball happened, but we came out on the other side.” When he rhymes on the title track The Future, “Day One is over, the future’s approaching, the embers are glowing, we’re spreading the ash,” it’s not only verbal wordplay about the band’s history but also serves as a declaration of From Ashes To New’s mission statement for this album.
From Ashes To New’s chemistry lies at the core of The Future, an album that sees the band expanding their music palette and taking their blend of rock, hip/hop, pop and metal to new heights. From the relentless, syncopated groove of the opener “Wake Up” to the arena-ready anthems like “Gone Forever” and Current Single “Crazy”, to the hip-hop/electronica-influenced hybrids like “My Name,” The Future is a unique album that fans will undoubtedly relate to with regardless of what type of musical scene they usually embrace.
The album was written at Brandyberry’s home studio and then recorded at Atrium Audio with producers Carson Slovak and Grant McFarland (August Burns Red) eventually mixed by Josh Wilbur (Korn, Lamb Of God). A last-minute experiment egged on by the bands label, brought about “Nowhere to Run” recorded with Nick “Raz” Furlong and Colin Brittain (Papa Roach, Blink-182). With all this, The Future became a collaborative album in the truest sense of the phrase. :
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