Day: October 7, 2016

It’s never too late to catch up with a good album, even if this one has been released for the first time as a self-production in 2012, to be then re-released three years later by Hypnotic Dirge: The Hourglass, in fact, is absolutely one of the best works sprung from the U.S. doom death scene in the last decade. It must be said at once that hiding or denying the affinities of Atten Ash with Daylight Dies is quite difficult and, even if we wanted to pass over the characteristics of the sound, we find the same geographical origin (North Carolina) and even a member in common (guitarist Barry Gambling). After that, after having made the necessary premises, the listening of The Hourglass gives the melodic doom death to its maximum potential, with a sound certificate to be exhibited as See You… Never, a wonderful song to say the least that reminds not so much someone but something, or how this musical genre is inimitable in its offer profuse emotions. The Hourglass never lets up in emotional intensity and amazes for its comparative quality: there is not a single song that does not deserve to be remembered or that does not contain moments of memorable and evocative lyricism. If we’re not at the levels of A Frail Becoming (which came out in the same year), we’re close to it, and also for this reason there’s no need to talk about this record, which should just be listened to and enjoyed in every moment while waiting for Atten Ash to come back to the fore with a new and longed-for full length (which, apparently, should be on its way).

2012 – Independent 2015 – Hypnotic Dirge