The Passage Back to Life

Out of all the bands that are known for pioneering the whole gothic metal movement, Ashes You Leave is one of the less referenced bands out of the bunch. I can imagine a few reasons as to why that is, such as the fact that metal itself isn't all that big in Croatia, or that they go through vocalists like they go through underwear, but I personally think a big part of it is that they just aren't that great. Their second and third albums consisted of unique and well-nuanced gothy doom/deathy material, but were flawed with a sub-par production quality, a weak guitar sound, and female vocalist who had a tendency to overextend herself and sound pretty out of tune at times. Everything post-The Inheritance of Sin and Shame is utterly dull, watered down gothic metal that fails to retain any intensity. This album isn't perfect either, by any means, but is at least the most intense and most well-performed out of the rest of their discography, in my eyes.

Before I go any further, let me make it very clear; this album is a female-fronted equivalent to My Dying Bride's second album, Turn Loose the Swans, and the band is fully aware of that. Nobody can deny that The Passage Back to Life shamelessly ripped off the Brits' seminal release, and obviously, it showed that the band lacked major originality at the time. However, I can't rip into them too hard for that, because even though it so very blatantly takes so much from MDB, I can't say I hate it.

The saving grace of The Passage Back to Life is that it retains a major factor that I felt was beginning to disappear in death/doom as gothic metal started to come on the rise; INTENSITY. It's heavy, ominous, and genuinely dark. At the time of this album, bands like Theatre of Tragedy, Saturnus, and The Sins of Thy Beloved also started to emerge. They all shared traits similar to this album in that they took their influences directly from doom/death metal, though they diluted their style more and more into the romantic aspects of their music, pushing the saccharine elements (lyrics about undying love, sugary sweet keyboards, or soft female vocals) until it wiped out the aggression of the music. This album has pianos, violins, flutes, and a lead female vocalist, but it keeps its feet firmly planted in death/doom metal, and never comes off as sounding sweet or sensitive.

The album has an instrumental intro, as well as a quiet intermission and an ambient outro, the former featuring some atmospheric pianos and violins, with the latter consisting of a quiet clean guitar passage with distant croons from lead singer, Dunja Radetic. The four main tracks on the album consist of thick, harrowing doom/death metal with an interplay between the clean alto singing and the deep grunts of keyboardist, Vladimir Krytuija. As I stated before, pianos, violins, and flutes are all featured on this album, and they are used to create a Medieval, slightly folk-tinged feel. The violins are used the most liberally, and blend very nicely with the guitars.

The guitars sound full, resonant, and thick. They have a deep tone and trudge at the pace of a dying mammoth, most of the time. In terms of tempo and riffage, I would actually like to say that the influence of early Cathedral seems to stand out in the gritty, funeral-paced, dire feel of some of the slowest sections. The marching rhythm of the drums and slightly gnarly guitar tone cause for a pleasantly ugly sound, which balances out well with the more melodic aspects of the music. Topping off the more aggressive side are the addition of up-tempo death metal sections, which stand out most particularly in tracks 'Thorn of the Dead Flower' and 'White Chains'. Unfortunately, these fast-paced bits don't pop up as frequently as they could, or very well should. Had there have been some blastbeats and more Autopsy-flavored riffs tossed around here and there just a little, I feel it would have done quite a bit to add some more versatility to the compositions, which follow fairly simplistic structures.

The vocals themselves are good, not great. The balance between the two vocalists is about 65/35, with Dunja's solemn cleans taking dominance over the standard grunts. Dunja's singing voice is, for the most part, very reserved and restrained. Her singing on the title track and 'Lay Down Alone' consists of mid-range, slightly Middle Eastern-sounding lines. Her deep alto voice is pretty powerful and distinctive, making for an effective lead voice over the rest of the music. On the other tracks, she makes more usage of higher range, soprano-style chanting, which sounds alright, but ultimately doesn't leave quite as much of an impression. Thankfully, she doesn't try too hard to sound "angelic" and wind up overextending herself, which she would end up doing on the two albums that followed this one. Vladimir's harsh vocals consist of simple, deep, death metal barks and bellows, which are suitable for the most aggressive sections of the songs. I was kind of let down that he wasn't featured more often throughout the album, as his contributions seem too brief and rare for what is stylistically a death/doom metal album. The later albums would feature Berislav Poje's gnarly screams for the harsh vocal counterpart, which would have also been a suitable addition to the mix.

Ultimately, what holds the album back the most for me is how short it seems. As I stated before, there are only four main tracks here, and though they are all reasonably lengthy songs, not that much really happens in the music itself. It causes the album itself to seem incomplete or sort of pieced together, as it doesn't feel like one cohesive piece of work as a whole. I think, had the three interlude pieces (which are more or less completely useless) been replaced with three slightly shorter tracks, it perhaps would have helped the album seem more full and accomplished. With only the four tracks and the three throw-away tracks, it feels as if this album borders on being an EP or demo release.

Going back to what I said at the beginning of the review, this album is the female-fronted equivalent to early My Dying Bride, so it's clear that this album will be most suitable for fans of the band. Of course, it would also be worth recommending to those who like the early albums of Anathema, Paradise Lost, and Theatre of Tragedy. In terms of execution, vocal style, and atmosphere, I would also say that Australia's The Slow Death perhaps lie closest to this album. To sum things up, this really isn't a bad album; it's decent doom/death metal that employs a lead female vocalist and dabbles in gothic influences, without saturating itself in the more accessible and romantic aspects of the music. However, it will only really appeal to a particular audience, and therefore, will probably never be viewed as a "classic" album.