Few things in life are for certain: death, taxes and Denmark churning out some of the most soul crushing extreme metal are ones you can hang your hat on. For such a small country, it is ripe with amazing bands: Undergang, Konvent, Chaotian and Foetorem, just to name a few. Every time I discover a new band from Denmark, I become completely obsessed with them. One of those bands is the mighty Phrenelith. I discovered them back in 2017 when they dropped their debut album Desolate Endscape. I cannot tell you how many times I listened to that album that year. Even to this day I still enjoy listening to it. Well, the good news is they have returned after a three-year slumber to drop an early death metal album of the year contender on our unsuspecting asses.
Ashen Womb is the third full-length album from the Copenhagen titans, and it comes highly anticipated after 2021’s Chimaera blew audiences away. When I got the Bandcamp alert of the first single dropping, I immediately dropped what I was doing and listened to it. To say I was hyped would be a big understatement.
The album opens with a two-minute instrumental track that is a warning to the listener that only pain and suffering lies ahead before exploding into the track “Astral Larvae”. The band begins to bludgeon straight from the first note, with thick, slimy riffs, blastbeats a plenty and reverb-soaked vocals that sound like they are coming from the bottom of a well. The first thing that really stuck out to me was the production. The production allows each instrument to shine without overtaking one another to create an absolutely sinister atmosphere.
Second single “A Husk Wrung Dry” continues the death metal onslaught. This track has a big death-doom feel to me, as the tempo changes from slow to mid-tempo before ramping up at times before coming back down again. It makes it feel like you are making your way through a moss-covered maze, not knowing what lies beyond each turn.
“Nebulae” is another mammoth track offered up by the Danish destroyers. This track clocks in at exactly six minutes in length and like “A Husk Wrung Dry” it weaves and meander through the catacombs that Phrenelith have been dragging you through. While the band continuously beats you with riffs and blastbeats, they even throw in some melody at times to keep you guessing. These dudes’ fingers must have been worn out after all the movements on the fret board. The track begins to close around the four-minute mark, but a single guitar plays over the last two minutes of the track, another false sense of security before the next track begins.
Lead single “Stagnated Blood” comes out from the dark and takes the listener by surprise just like “Astral Larvae” did with no warning. The riffs come at you in waves while the drums pulsate around you, cranking up that brooding, evil atmosphere up to eleven. The way this band can make you uncomfortable while listening to their music will never not amaze me. Some of the most evil death metal out there.
The band tosses us a life preserver with an instrumental track for a few minutes to catch our breath before the final two tracks come to finish us off. It is a much-needed break from the heavy beating the band has hit us with.
“Chrysopoeia” hits like a freight train before the title track kicks in. Phrenelith continues the theme of leaving their longest songs for the last. “Ashen Womb” clocks in just under ten minutes and while it takes a few minutes to kick in (on first listen I thought it was another instrumental track), those few moments help build the atmosphere up. The band begins to conjure up one last spell, with guitars swirling around the listener, the drums pulsating the listener’s skull and the vocals being vomited from the dark abyss. The band pushes the listener to the max before the track goes silent except for the drums and a single guitar. The tempo is very slow, almost to a snail’s crawl before gradually going back to a mid-tempo pace. This continues for the rest of the track until the track begins to slowly fade out over the last two minutes of run time. An epic way to end an epic album.
I knew this album would be top quality when I heard about the release, but my expectations were exceeded immensely. This is one dark, brooding, and evil slab of death metal. Hats off to these four individuals for continuing to up their game and put out some of the most punishing music time and time again.
-The Metal Architect
