Review by SzejkElRopa on July 4, 2026.

Although I gave Ashes' recent album "Into The Woodlands" an 8/10, their style, based on repetitions and hypnotising atmosphere, prompted me to delve into their earlier works. Out of the two available opuses, my choice was "Gloom, Ash And Emptiness To The Horizon". One of the things that encouraged me to try this album out was the title of one of the YouTube reviews, which merely translates to "A sad face of a broken soul". These words are one of the better descriptions that can be put about this album in brief.

As it is with "Into The Woodlands", this album also relies heavily on mid-paced, repetitive riffs, which shape the atmosphere of the album. It is gloomy (what a surprise), and incredibly dark. One of the moments that can be brought up as an example is the ending of the third track. The riff that is played over and over there fades slowly yet steadily, making way for the eerie keyboards, which, after some time, completely take the sound over. Their sound lingers for quite a long time, which further adds to the aforementioned darkness. The riffs are, as well as they were with the predecessor, remarkable, and not over-melodic, which helps the album maintain the climate. One of the examples is the clean guitar melody that can be heard at the end of the second track. It can be heard in the background of the demonic vocals, which also evoke feelings of resignation and hopelessness. Speaking of vocals - they are performed by Lazarus, a person known from his work with Medico Peste (I should come back to this band, frankly). His distinct, raw scream style fits the type of music perfectly, due to his ability to convey emotions. Apart from the aforementioned hopelessness, the "broken soul" also tries to find the way out of the oppressive darkness, which is reminiscent of more aggressive moments, notably the openings of "II" and "III". The fast-paced drumming and raw vocals make a difference on this album, preventing it from becoming tedious, yet I personally liked the atmospheric parts more. However, I don't deny the fact that without those moments, the album could have been unfinished.

While the tracks are quite long (especially "IV"), the compositions aren't by any means overplayed and are of a very good length. Maybe "IV" loses some power at the end; however, this is not a big issue - it simply doesn't end as convincingly as "III" does. One of the things that helps with that is the drumwork. I have a big respect for The Fall for his work at Hauntologist, where he does everything but the drumming. I didn't expect him to play them with such proficiency. He throws one fill after another, and there are multiple layers to his work, which can be heard, for instance, in the opening of "II", when the usage of cymbals is rich, and they certainly add to the atmosphere of the album. The guitarwork isn't obviously complicated, as this album's goal is to focus on the atmosphere. The riffs are, as said, repetitive and are mostly tremolo-picked, but there are some moments with some sort of heaviness. One of them is at the 7th-minute mark of "IV".

After listening to this album, I must admit that I finally found out what this project is (at least to me) about. The very goal of Ashes is to convey as much negativity as possible, giving the listener a chance to reflect upon the vanity of our lives. "Gloom, Ash And Emptiness To The Horizon" with the overall length of 38 minutes of music, succeeds in making a good, emotional, interesting album. While I criticised "Into The Woodlands" for its short length, this album gave me a new perspective on this project. I give this album 8,7/10 because while it doesn't reinvent the wheel, it remains a very compelling listen, and I can without hesitation recommend this piece of black metal to the fans of the atmospheric and repetitive side of the genre.

Rating: 8.7 out of 10