AS HEAVEN TURNS TO ASH | VINYL RECORD (LP)

Warhorse: Jerry Orne (vocals, acoustic & electric bass); Todd Laskowski (acoustic & electric guitar, percussion); Mike Hubbard (acoustic guitar, piano, drums, percussion, background vocals). Recorded at New Alliance Studios, Boston, Massachussetts. With this crushing full-length debut, Warhorse stake a well-deserved claim to a piece of the sprawling Black Sabbath-inspired doom metal underground. Reminiscent at times of contemporaries Goat snake and Electric Wizard, As Heaven Turns to Ash is well-crafted start to finish, the production allowing the material to really shine. The second track, "Doom's Bride," originally recorded on a cassette deck in the band's practice space and titled "Death's Bride" on Warhorse's 1998 demo, comes off with so much power that it sounds like almost like an entirely different band. The same is true with the version of "Lysergic Communion," this album's fifth track. The astounding low end and brutal guitar tones seem to have saturated the analog tape during recording beyond levels previously thought possible, while the songs' solid structures make it an effort to keep yourself from either banging your head or killing your neighbors. The overwhelming heaviness is accentuated by fantastic and tastefully executed song dynamics, shifts in mood, volume, and tone that draw you into the recording and it's tortured landscapes. Warhorse supported the release of this album by touring with doom legends Electric Wizard. This is an excellent debut. - Paul Kott.