THE EMBER, THE ASH are today premiering their new album, Fixation, with an accompanying full length visualizer via New Noise Magazine. Fixation is the band's sophomore album, and follows on from their highly acclaimed 2019 release, Consciousness Torn From The Void. THE EMBER, THE ASH's sound straddles the gulf between symphonic black metal and textured metalcore, in a unique blend of ice cold precision and a swirl of enveloping audio textures.
Fixation, will be released worldwide via Prosthetic Records on May 14.
Speaking with New Noise on the the album premiere, 鬼 comments: "Fixation is written from the perspective of an individual experiencing the throes of intrusive thoughts and suicidal ideation. The album acts as a time capsule for an extremely dark period of my life, as I observed a loved one endure this severe form of mental illness. The distress of harbouring these dark thoughts are at the core of the record's aggressive sound and lyrical content. A lack of coping mechanisms for trauma in general led me to immerse myself in the creation of the record and express the feelings I had towards the situation in the only way I knew how to."
THE EMBER, THE ASH is the solo endeavour from a musical polymath known only as 鬼, who also performs in the black metal band Unreqvited. Fixation is a unique blend of ice cold precision and a swirl of enveloping audio textures. The seven tracks that make up the album were written in 2019/20 before being entirely self-recorded and mixed in their home studio; mastering was handled by Nekkomix.
With a theme that picks through the debris of mental illness, 鬼 drew upon their own experiences of witnessing a loved one suffer through a traumatic episode. Exploring their own reaction to the fraught timeline of events, 鬼 channels their emotional response into the lyrics and music that make up Fixation. Suicidal ideation and spiraling thought patterns loom large over the album that is steeped in sombre atmosphere throughout. The distress of both witnessing and harboring such dark thoughts are at the core of the record's aggressive sound as well as its lyrical content.
Fixation will be released via Prosthetic Records on May 14.
Watch the lyric videos for Fixation's singles so far:
Strychnine
Fixation
Becoming the Eidolon
The Colossal Void
Celestial Fracture (The Tempest)
A Growing Emptiness