Carved Cross (Australia) - Embittered Amidst the Ashes (Album 2020)

“Embittered Amidst the Ashes“ is Carved Cross’ 5th full-length, arriving soon after “Severance of Disparity in Absolute Acrimony“ which came out in January. As expected all the essential characterists of the Tasmanians are present, but still “Embittered Amidst the Ashes“ is quite a pleasant surprise. Just like on the last full-length, Carved Cross continues saving some small space for experimentation on this record, not only with electronic and Noise in the outro, however that’s not uncharted territory given the member’s many Noise acts, but also with different changes in tempos and rhythms, from the Drone parts in “Reside Amongst the Unwanted and Untended“ to the punkish grooves in “Washed Away with the Reckoning“. This album is definitely a step up from Severance however. It’s also clear how the beautiful opening track, “Hope Cascades into Eternity“, is a development of the track, “Struck by Blasphemous Infinity“, from “Demo IV“. In terms of sound, guitar wise this is probably Carved Cross’s most crystalline record to date, despite the picking noise audible throughout the whole record, but which definitely adds some flavour, with a very hazy guitar tone, much less grainy sound than on previous records. This tone fits perfectly M.N.’s riffing style, diffusing the beautiful melodies like mist climbing up a valley’s slopes. The drum sound, on another hand, is a bit more crude and further hidden in the mix, except the snare and bass drum which gives some ritualistic properties to the recording, somewhat reminiscent of Degredo even. Released on LP via Overuse Overuse: Tracklist: 1 Hope Cascades into Eternity 00:00 2 Reside Amongst the Unwanted and Untended 10:57 3 Washed Away with The Reckoning 20:10 4 All is Now as it Should Be 30:59 All rights belong to Carved Cross and Overuse. Video will be deleted upon request.