Ashen Reign
Immortality Independent

by Franco Wissa
Staff Writer

Comments: There are a handful of CDs that to some, are dismissed due to the production value. The sound is not as tight as it would have been had the artist unlimited resources from which to draw from. Studio time is expensive, studio musicians, producers, sound experts and recording engineers are not cheap, and for those not having a label behind them to pay for such lavish operating costs sometimes are forced do each of their tasks themselves. But passion and a love for metal is not one that can be fixed behind a mixing board. Either an artist has it, or doesn’t. It can’t be made up, faked, or presumed. Metal - true metal will show through. Metal is a way of life, it makes up who you are, what you believe in and it becomes a part of you like does your heritage or your personal beliefs. And God love people like Brent McDaniel whose love for metal far exceeds anything else he may have. And on this, his debut, it shows in droves. One can feel him loosing himself in his guitar, and note after note after note, playing the kind of metal that never gets old. This is a CD that is wall-to-wall sound, with songs that are simple, the vocals almost raw, and the guitar chords distorted, noisy and non-stop.

Born in Mississippi in 1971 the guitars of Loudness, Dokken, Krokus, Maiden, Priest and Yngvie Malmsteen brought out a love for the guitar that even a military stint in Japan couldn’t put aside. Calling his project Ashen Reign, set out to make a record that is, “… balls out, full on wall of melody and precision … that is the Ashen Reign kind of metal.”

Straight out of the box from the opening seconds of the opening track “The Fire Within,” the listener is slapped silly with a monster introduction of riffs and chords. This is guitar metal that enthusiasts of Dave Mustaine, Kirk Hammett and the late, great “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott will latch on to. Intermixed with almost non-chalant grunts during the bridges into feverish guitar solos, Brent McDaniel sings his heart out, while at the same laying into a track that is no bullshit metal. The devotion to metal can truly be felt on track 4, “Singing River.” No letting the listener catch their breath, the vocals and guitars play a tug of war never letting the other win, and caught in the middle is a rhythmic drum and bass line.

The metal rages on with “Formation,” a great played track that truly showcases Brent McDaniel’s use of guitars played at a hellish pace. Perhaps a track not featuring the strongest of vocals, as his voice tried to reach into upper octaves, still that aside the concrete foundation of true guitar driven metal comes through. It is track 7 that will make the listener do a double take, for featured here is “Sometimes,” from Dan Hill’s 1977 Longer Fuse release. Originally a soft sincere ballad, here that version is shot to all hell as loud and metal guitars take the original into a whole other category. At face value, it makes for a strange listen, as it is hard to imagine a ballad played with such intensity as that which is heard here. At closing, one is left at a loss for words. Perhaps not the strongest track on the CD, for “Sometimes When We Touch,” (the original track name) is a strange choice to turn a ballad into a metal monster.

Brent McDaniel loves metal. And after a listen to Immortality this becomes conspicuously apparent. The guitar riffs come at you hard and fast, and the solos are interwoven into each track quite well. The sound is unrefined, and in moments the drums seem too loud and it makes it hard to concentrate on the solos or vocals at hand. But, hands down, the metal that makes up Ashen Reign is forged out a life long love for this brand of music that comes through loud and clear through each of these 8 tracks. And that speaks volumes for the kind of musician that Brent McDaniel is. He, beyond a doubt, has “A Fire Within …”

Musicians:
Brent McDaniel – vocals, guitars, bass, drums and keyboards

Track Listing:
The Fire Within
Immortality
Running Away
Singing River
Ronin
Formation
Sometimes
Happy Go Lucky

Hardrock Haven rating: 7.9/10