Phrenelith - Ashen Womb

Angry Metal Guy

In the early 2010’s, the world saw an explosion of the New-School-Old-School Revival of death metal. Spearheaded by outfits like Tomb Mold, Gatecreeper, Hyperdontia, and Undergang—to name but a few—this wave of bands represented taking the crust, filth, and savagery of your favorite genre founding fathers and launching them forth with wrath into of the modern era. Standing shoulder to shoulder near the front of this pack was Phrenelith, a Danish group whose debut Desolate Endscape made them scene darlings almost overnight. Unfortunately, sophomore release Chimaera opted for an increase in muck and atmospheric decor at the cost of some of their first album’s power, and was received somewhat divisively. Now, some four years later, Ashen Womb is prepared to drop like an anvil on their unsuspecting fanbase. Will they continue to dive into the murky wells, or has this womb been gestating a return to glorious, bone-powdering violence?

As it turns out, Phrenelith have opted for option C. The approach of Ashen Womb, in both music and sound, pitches for a merging of the melancholy of Chimaera with Desolate Landscape’s cement-shattering methodology to songwriting. The production sidesteps both previous releases, at once managing to be muddy in its tone with leads vibrant enough to cut through the mire. Making his LP debut, drummer Andreas Nordgreen quickly etches his identity into the band, flowing between creative drum fills from measure to measure, giving repeated refrains in “Chrysopoeia” and “Astral Larvae” an engaging quality. Much like the artwork adorning the cover, the more melodic tones are buried but bright, even as bassist Jakob plays in tandem with guitar leads rather than chords, laying riffcraft to savage the crust below. The atypically warm DR lets everything shine in this paradoxical sonic quagmire, creating the suffocating character Chimaera opted for without sacrificing the clarity of barbarity at work.

Ashen Womb by Phrenelith

Older fans will be stoked to hear the return to immediate violence in the compositions. Lead single “Stagnated Blood” toys with a repeated riff at alternating octaves, stringing together hooks and character into a ruthless scorched earth assault. “A Husk Wrung Dry” rocks an infected 7/4 riff replete with whammy abuse and staccato-laced chords which slide from bouncy to bludgeoning. Guitarists David and Simon Daniel toy with bends, modulation, and sustained tapping sections recalling the more crystalline moments of Innumerable Forms, with Simon’s vocals a belligerent, reverb-soaked guttural soup. The vocals in particular are masterfully placed—both within the mix and the music—lyrical arrangement flawlessly adding titanic force to ruthless riffing while knowing when to be silent and let the music speak for itself.

Nonetheless, the specter of Chimaera looms betwixt the heavier moments, filling the negative spaces with gloom and somberness. Title track “Ashen Womb” and “Nebulae” end on repeated, haunting melodies, drawn out to a protracted conclusion. “Sphageion” serves as one of the better interludes I’ve heard, with tension-building distortion and Andreas breaking into a free-form drum solo which would go over swell in a live setting. Even the instrumental opener “Noemata” manages to carve an identity as a curtain-lifter rather than a pointless buildup, rendering Ashen Womb a journey rather than a mere collection of tracks. True, the atmospherics are sometimes heavy-handed; there’s no need to bookend songs with a cumulative couple minutes of Paysage d’Hiver-esque wind and sounds, and a minute could be trimmed off of both emotive fade-outs. Despite this, the mastery of seamless transitioning, rather than sandwiching of the disparaging elements gives Ashen Womb its own flavor in the Phrenelith landscape.

Few bands can manage to make each album its own time capsule of sound and style, but Ashen Womb accomplishes that and more, cementing Phrenelith as a band with chapters. Some may cling to the idea that Desolate Endscape is a collection of better songs, but Ashen Womb is a better album; a journey with highs, lows, and tension-building. By managing to merge the melodicism and mood with the brutality, rather than sacrificing one for the other, these Danes have continued to evolve their sound in an admirable direction. Who can say where the fourth release will take us? One thing’s for sure: it won’t be what any of us expect, other than a commitment to high quality, lethal weapons grade, unadulterated death.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Dark Descent Records
Websites: https://darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/ashen-womb | https://www.facebook.com/phrenelith/
Releases Worldwide: February 7, 2025

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