Album Review: Askon - "Sacred Silence"

Askon (or "Ash) is a German black metal act that formed in 2011 originally as a side project by guitarist/songwriter JD Red and vocalist/lyricist Sarolf. After the release of their debut album and demo, the band took a hiatus in 2017 before returning in 2023 with their new album Sacred Silence. The band has also re-recorded and released their debut album, The End is Near – Re-gnarök.

Sacred Silence starts with Old Man's Curse, which quickly shows the bands black metal sound, as creeping ambience, bright guitar tremolos, and slamming drum grooves launching into thrashing tempos, blast beats, and shrill screams. Askon also showcases clear death metal instrumentals with hard-hitting riffs and crushing heaviness that combats the pure speed of traditional black metal, with the track even ending in a brutal breakdown.

Insidious Empire wastes no time, starting with tom drum hits before launching into rapid rhythm guitar and soaring melodic leads that cut through the mix. Percussive harsh vocals jump out at the listener while slamming riffs and impactful drums create speeding metal intensity, mixing the groove of death metal with a black metal sound. A soaring guitar solo leads into a quiet outro of thunder and rainstorms.

Ashes Over Variszi starts with a crushing guitar riff that showcases more of the death metal influences, as explosive guitar chugs and ferocious drumming create an intense instrumental backbone, as black metal vocals take the forefront. A sudden, groovy chugging breakdown left me banging my head and was one of the most memorable moments of the album thus far.

Next is Rotten Souls, which starts with a short, ominous ambient intro before introducing hauntingly distant screams and that chunkily hard-hitting death metal chugging that every metalhead loves. Bouncing guitar riffs accompany alternating high screams and growls, creating a dynamic mix of vocals and instrumentation that changes from high-intensity speeding tempos to more dramatic and slowed heaviness.

Blood Red Sun starts with a left-panned guitar intro before slinging thumping bass lines, and racing blast beats into an electrifying thrash section. Askon excellently uses contrast between high-octane tempos and slowed, death metal sections that focus on crushing heaviness and intensity–keeping things varied and interesting throughout the song's length. Screeching pinch harmonics add a sense of flair to guitar riffs, bringing that old-school heavy metal sound into the mix as symphonic elements like eerie choirs add melody to the destruction.

Blackened Forest begins with bright guitar chords that soon a rapid tapping guitar riff that adds an element of progressive or tech-death, widening the bands musical repertoire. Low growls are brought back into the mix, showing that Askon can shred with a death metal style track as much as they can with black metal. A bridge introduces clean guitar as distant screams and soft drum beats create a softer sound that soon builds back into full band intensity.

The title track Sacred Silence starts with a sliding guitar riff before catapulting the listener into fierce guitar chugging and rapid trills that create a distinct death metal sound. Askon brings some of my favorite riffs and breakdowns to life in this song, making it a highlight of the album.

Still Alive brings a guitar riff that reminds us of 2000s metalcore to the action while skipping on any of the modern pop elements and instead opting for extreme metal screams and growls as the guitar adds a hint of melody to the relentless onslaught. Still Alive takes a brighter sound, still mixing things up from earlier tracks.

Drownfall quickly establishes the black metal sound from earlier as dark, reverbed guitar melodies and slamming drums are met by powerful screams. At just under 7 minutes, Drownfall is the longest track of the album, and it showcases the band's black metal and death metal influences before a bridge that swaps to clean guitar and distant whispered vocals. Suddenly, the track launches into a layered guitar solo behind full intensity screams before slowly fading out.

Shadows jumps right back into the heavily old-schoold death metal influenced sound with alternating speeding blast beats and unbelievably chunky guitar riffs that are accented by explosive double bass drum patterns. Shadows quickly sets itself apart as another one of my favorite tracks with unforgettable riffage and those nasty groove sections that leave you bobbing your head. A guitar solo introduces a blues-esque solo that reminded us of a progressive metal jazz sound before ending in an intense finale.

The final track Imagine A World is overflowing with extreme metal energy, while bright guitar leads fill in the background and add touches of melody to the mix. A sample of a gun loading and firing leads into a particularly catchy, bright guitar riff before the album fades out with a bang.

Overall, Sacred Silence is a strong return from Askon's hiatus and showcases what the band has too offer. Filled with death metal brutality, speeding black metal, and tasteful hints of genres like progressive metal, tech-death, and metalcore, Askon delivers an intensely heavy, groove-forward sound that fans of extreme metal will find enticing. You can stream Sacred Silence out everywhere now.

Watch the band's official music video for Blackened Forest below on YouTube:

Find Them Here: Spotify | Instagram | YouTube | Bandcamp

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