Artist: Asira
Title: As Ink In Water
Type: Album
Label: Digital / CD Self Released
I first made the acquaintance of Asira at one edition of the much missed Warhorns festival. Even at a festival known for the odd surprise their blending of prog with, depending on your opinion, melodeth or black metal or even blackgaze was a very intriguing introduction to the band. So I’ve kind of kept an eye on them and had this on pre-order even before the band nudged me…
Their debut album was really only at fault for its broad ambition and possibly too many ideas to fit in the basket at once. Inspiration was clearly bubbling over then and I simply hoped from that would come something more focussed and collected…
So here we are.
‘Silence Of Mind’. Opening with an eleven minute plus song is a bold and confident move. It opens with a curious percussion sound and the most calm and soft acoustic guitar. The sound is rich and so gentle you just melt into it as the fine clean vocals almost whisper. A melodic electric guitar, slow and soulful but with a dark edge that just warns you that things will happen. Suddenly we rise up through a full riff. The vocals are high and frankly quite beautiful from Jack Reynolds. The bass lines are brought to the fore, the tune flowing back. This is a deeply emotional approach to prog; the echoiing guitars at time bring something of Katatonia to mind, or a blackgaze feel as the harsh vocals come in and a deep in the background we have a beautiful female voice. The intricate little runs on guitars (Martin Williams, Ethan Bishop) and the bass (Alex Taylor) dance and stray and return with such perfect timing… this is just beautiful, beautiful music. For some reason I keep thinking of The 3rd & The Mortal around ‘Painting On Glass’ and something of the mastery of the rising sounds that the immaculate Countless Skies can produce. So many ideas still, but all woven together into a single colourful canvas.
‘Clarity’ is a slow, sparse but smoothly melodic song rippling with a forlorn feel. The opening has that gorgeous reflective sound that Lonely Robot captured so well on the Spaceman trilogy. The enunciation of the lyrics is perfect; musical but clear and so engaging. The guitar runs carrying a melancholy tune into gentle reflective waters and the drumming (Sam Greenland) is of that rare ability to raise the tempo without jarring aggression. The hairs rise, the eyes begin to ache; it reaches you.
A short passage, ‘Descent’, has an ominous and dark feel, a warning perhaps that things are about to change and with ‘Cauterise’ they do. A song about the victims of SA. Harsh guitars, Katatonia like, descend into the realms of black metal, the versatile vocals match, the style bitter, nasty. As unpleasant as the subject matter. The clean vocals rise, the sound of support, of resistance even against the violence. It is not, to me, bland platitudes but the sound of all most can do; support, help, rebuild the walls. It is a truly haunting song, deep with empathy and an anger but one expressed so gently it makes my heart ache. This is a band coming into themselves, their need to use music to express feelings and experience. And it is incredible.
‘In Sunrise’ again has that sadness to it that John Mitchell has such a talent for even as the notes scamper away into the light. The lyrics, perhaps, may seem a touch dense, impenetrable, but I would say simply relax into the music, the clourscapes that Asira produce and you will find your way within. Fast, soft notes like neon raindrops and deep keyboard pulses spread and move into the black metal; an old Opeth feel to this with a strong guitar break, hard and powerful as the song rises into the clouds and the vision spreads out below.
‘Ascent’ leads slowly, carefully, respectfully into the closing song ‘Still’. The piano is the lapping of waves, the voice seeming to offer a soft glowing light. A daydream of warmth and expectation and of love. It is a sweet end to the album; warm and comforting, the notion that you are not alone spreading through me as I let the musical waters wash warmly over me. A perfect ending.
‘As Ink In Water’ is a band who have found their focus and flow. Unafraid of emotion and gentleness, having an exemplary touch for how to thread rhythms and pulsing notes through languid waters, how to raise tension and express anger and darkness to contrast with their subtle strength. Exemplary musicianship and songwriting, passionate performances and an unerring ability to balance complexity whilst avoiding self indulgence; Asira are a modern prog band who glide across the boundaries of black metal and blackgaze and moments of melodeth with ease.
For those times when you need a calm, strong companion, Asira are here for you.
Gizmo
Walking The Liminal Space 