Track By Tracks: Among These Ashes - The Enemy In I (2023)

Preamble: My name is Richard, and I play guitar in the Detroit-based band, Among These Ashes. We've been described as a melodic power/thrash band, and I think that is an accurate description. We released a new original single, entitled The Enemy in I, on April 21, 2023, as a way to introduce new music to our audience and hopefully gain new listeners prior to releasing a new album. We packaged a cover of Siren's by the band Savatage as a B-side track to The Enemy in I.

1. The Enemy in I:

I tend to refer to elements of style within our sound as "sonic trademarks." I would describe our sonic trademarks as heaviness and aggression contrasted by melody and deliberate, dynamic shifts in song feel. Musically, The Enemy in I displays all of these sonic trademarks. It starts at a slower tempo for the introduction, and takes a little time to develop before dramatically shifting tempos. Rhythmic synchronization between the string instruments and the bass drums is also very important to our sound, and that is predominantly captured within this song.

Lyrically, this song chronicles self-destruction. For anyone who has witnessed this behavior, it can often become pervasive to the point of inhibiting others. So, I structured verse one and two to be self-oriented while verse three is outwardly oriented in that the self-destructive nature has gotten bad enough that it has become infectious to others. The origin of the downfall in these lyrics is not specific, so it is up to the listener to relate how he or she feels it has manifested itself.

My personal opinion is that this song really displays the performance talent of everyone in this group and really allows each performer to stand out at different times within the song.

2. Sirens:

All of us in this band love the bands that pioneered metal in the 1980s. JP and I both love Savatage, and the idea to do a cover of this song was pitched during the recording sessions for our first album, Dominion Enthroned. We are always trying to navigate social media and the Internet to find ways to increase listenership and stay connected to our audience. The idea was to release a slightly obscure but recognizable cover and have it accompany our original song. However, we didn't want it to be a carbon copy of the original, so again, all of the ATA sonic trademarks are present in this track. It stays true to the original with some sonically interesting adjustments. We also completely tore down the bridge section and morphed it into a doomy, plodding 3/4 type feel. So far, the feedback on it has been excellent, and we're glad our take on this track was well received.

Final Thoughts: Thank you so much to Breathing the Core for this opportunity. Follow us on social media, check out our new release, and also check out our debut album, which was just released in early 2022. https://amongtheseashes.bandcamp.com/