Unto Ashes
Burials Foretold

With “Burials Foretold,” Unto Ashes celebrate their fifteenth anniversary, confirming the longevity of Michael Laird's creation, far from a fleeting presence in the American neo-folk/dark scene.

Formed in 1997 and always followed by Projekt's Sam Rosenthal (Black Tape for a Blue Girl), Unto Ashes remain a niche reality (and unusual for the US shores – closer perhaps to Germany and bands like Forseti, Darkwood, and Sonne Hagal), yet they certainly deserve attention and respect for the quality of their musical offering: a reputation enhanced by the fact that Michael Laird recently participated in the production of an important event, namely the long-awaited record return of the seminal Fire + Ice.

And it is precisely from the ancestral folk of Fire + Ice that the music of Unto Ashes draws inspiration, an expressive vehicle that knows how to integrate ethnic elements and dark-wave nuances. The presence of female vocals has often led their offering to be mainly compared to Dead Can Dance, but beyond the undeniable analogies with the work of Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard (an influence found especially in their early albums), I would say that since the shift to a dark/singer-songwriter style undertaken a couple of works ago, the most fitting comparison remains the guru Ian Read of the aforementioned Fire + Ice.

But it is not just the fifteenth year of activity being celebrated with the latest album (the eighth, if you also count the 2003 EP “I Cover You with Blood”): the release of “Burials Foretold,” which took place in 2012, also celebrates the return to the lineup of Ericah Hagle and Natalia Lincoln (who partook in the creation of the masterpiece “Empty Into White”), historical members of a collective that nevertheless remains centered around Michael Laird, a (dark) singer-songwriter oscillating between the Mormon and the misanthropic, a character who in many ways resembles the friend/colleague B’Eirth of fellow countrymen In Gowan Ring, with whom Unto Ashes share more than one inspiration.

What to say about the album: if their past production seemed somewhat baroque to you, “Burials Foretold” should not displease you, as it has the merit of definitively setting aside the synthetic component, opting for the use of solely acoustic instruments, thanks to which the sound becomes more natural and evocative. And if you appreciated the shift taken in recent works (“Songs for a Widow” and “The Blood of My Lady”), then you will find in “Burials Foretold” a pleasant affirmation: indeed, this album might even like you a tad more, because in this more balanced and refined work, we find a Laird further matured, undoubtedly as a performer, but also as a composer/arranger, despite his introspection apparently aiming at simplicity.

The music of Unto Ashes becomes clear and flowing, the sounds caressing, the atmospheres shifting and crepuscular: fifteen gems, nestled within the mere three-quarters of an hour duration of the work, fifteen stages that compose the journey of Unto Ashes into a past tinged with mystery, pagan celebrations, romance, and melancholy: fifteen acoustic sketches inspired by simple tunes, carriers of soft and intimate settings, where prevailing are the three voices and the guitar, here accompanied by the caresses of Catherine Bent's cello, there supported by the evocative blowing of William Wiegard's horn, and little more (the percussion, the xylophone, the piano of the all-rounder Laird).

The manifestation most closely tied to the ethnic dimension can be found only in “Pilzentanz” (complete with bagpipes and percussion), while the more "medieval" spirit is evoked in tracks like “Spring Magic” and “Young Men Leave for Battles Unknown” (both sustained by the heavy swirling of a somber harmonium): episodes that enrich with nuances a smooth and homogeneous sound flow, not disrupted even by the presence of two daring covers, “Kathy’s Song” by Apoptygma Berzerk and “Running with the Devil” by Van Halen (!!!), both unrecognizable and blended in perfect harmony – despite the stylistic distance from the originals – with the sensations emanated by the rest of the album.

Listening to “Burials Foretold” therefore requires neither effort nor patience: just see how gems like “Night is Coming Soon,” “I Remember Happiness,” “Piper’s Song,” “Worm’s – Meat,” “Too Late to Begin,” just to name a few (because the statement applies to all the tracks comprising the album), glide away on the delicate wave of hypnotic arpeggios and soothing vocal intertwining. And if “Burials Foretold” has a flaw, it is that it flows too smoothly, a flaw that carries with it the risk that the album, on inattentive listening, might pass by without leaving a mark, and thus be underrated, its real depth not fully explored.

Nothing phenomenal, let's be clear, we're within the average productions of this genre, but it's still a pleasant listen. So let yourself be cradled…