Aural Fixations

UNTO ASHES
Empty Into White
(Projekt)
I love a band that defies easy description. New York's Unto Ashes shares traits with the so-called ethereal subgenre of Gothic rock, with its swooping femme vox and lush acoustic/synthetic textures, and adopts some elements of the main Goth genre as well, with contrasting baritone male vocals and song titles like "I Cover You With Blood," "Flayed By Frost" and "Persephone, Queen of the Underworld." But the bandmembers have also immersed themselves deeply in classical study, pagan religion (which here seems to be a genuine faith, not an affectation) and folk music of many stripes, especially, but not limited to, Medieval. Add to all this a firm command of melody and song structure—tunes come from the pens of group members or from sources like Texas folklore ("Go Tell Aunt Rhodie"), pagan poets ("Witches' Rune") or Tori Amos ("Beauty Queen")—and you have the libretto for a dark, utterly bewitching spell. Flowers blossom, die, and grow again. Fairies dance themselves into dervishes, then collapse in heaps of exhaustion and cardiac arrest. A phoenix rises from the ashes of its own self-immolation only to be shot down by human hunters. Coffins open and disgorge perfumed corpses in romantic finery. Angels and devils share songs, beds, spirits and Isis knows what else while the gods watch in an attempt to disrupt their own ennui. Empty Into White ends with a stunning cover of Blue Öyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper," which pretty much ditches the original melody for one far more mournful and ethereal. It's a beautiful end to a beautiful journey, from a band that crafts its own distinctive magic. Michael Toland [buy it]