FORGED IN BLACK
“Lightning In The Ashes”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

9/10

Forged In Black are a heavy metal band from the UK formed in 2013, to date releasing four E.P.’s, one live, one compilation, and three studio albums – ‘Forged In Black’ (2013), ‘Descent Of The Serpent’ (2019), and ‘Lightning In The Ashes’, released in 2023.

The bands new album sees a meld of power, thrash and doom metal woven into their root heavy metal sound – a sound that has Forged In Black competing at the forefront of British heavy metal, spearheading a new breed of bands that are hell-bent on taking over the world! And with ‘Lightning In The Ashes’, methinks the band are well on their way – album opener ‘Be One With Fire’ immediately into its stride, pummelling listeners with a throbbing, vibrating and pulsating rhythm that’s both infectious and catchy. The heavy thunder emitted by ‘Be One With Fire’ is slightly menacing, causing a shiver to run down the spine, the doom heavy riffing blending perfectly with the bands traditional metal stance.

The title song ‘Lightning In The Ashes’ is more melodic than the previous song, yet still maintains a minor level of menace, the band striding all around the metal genre to encompass traditional, doom and thrash! If you’re looking for a blistering speed fest, you’re looking in the wrong direction, Forged In Black forging a mid tempo swagger – think a “heavy metal” version of thrash icons Megadeth. And with its one minute doom led intro, ‘Dusk Breather’ turns on its heels and roars off at pace, slowing like a progressive metaller across the chorus break. The varied styles of metal heard over the albums opening treble shot is incredible, the band delivering a myriad of styles that’ll attract a very wide array of fans. Increasing the thunder ten-fold, ‘Dark Lord Requiem’ is a rumbling romp of hustle and bustle, the mid tempo melodic heavy metal march taking a back seat as the band roar through every stylistic influence under their belts. The variation shown by Forged In Black is amazing, and may surprise a few listeners too!

And with a glorious tension filled, anticipation fuelled first minute, ‘War Torn Skull’ storms off at top speed, adopting a little thrash metal aggression as it gets going proper. The incredible tour of varying metal genres by the band must be exhausting, yet there is so much energy oozing from ‘Lightning In The Ashes’ (the album) methinks the band have eaten a tonne of long lasting lithium batteries! Projecting the most progressive metal feel heard on the album so far, ‘Chains Of The Damned’ is a thunderous foot stomper, blending fast passages with slower moments and plenty of heaviness. And quite possibly too, ‘Chains Of The Damned’ is a descendant of Iron Maiden’s ‘Children Of The Damned’ (off the bands 1982 seminal album ‘The Number Of The Beast’). The heaviest song heard so far ‘Building A Beast’, is a tradiitonal metaller through and through, planting one “foot on the monitor” and keeping the other firmly rooted in the centre of the heavy metal genre. Forged In Black are catering for many metal tastes, the bands soundscape widening with every song that goes by.

Clocking in at over five minutes in length, ‘Brother’s Keeper’ is the longest song on offer and the only song to exceed five minutes – and sees, or rather hears, the return of the doom heavy style from earlier. And a level of aggression higher than heard anywhere else too – the band a scowling torrent of menace. And the mid song, groove metal breakdown is simply gorgeous, whetting much more than just appetites! And with a brilliant pun loaded title, the band march on with ‘Hellucinator’, pounding the ground with enough force to crack it wide open! The band are at their most majestic here, delivering one of the most head bang-able songs on the album – yes, they’re all head bang-able, it’s just that ‘Hellucinator’ has that something extra! The albums final hurrah ‘Detonation Ritual’, opens with menace and tension galore, exploding into life with a burst of thrash metal fury, adopting the traditional sound and pace of old school heavy metal. Each and every song on ‘Lightning In The Ashes’ (the album) has offered something different, and I recommend many more listens to fully appreciate what the band has delivered.

Overall, an incredible mix of power, thrash, doom and traditional metal, ‘Lightning In The Ashes’ is a belter.

TRACKLIST

Be One With Fire
Lightning In The Ashes
Dusk Breather
Dark Lord Requiem
War Torn Skull
Chains Of The Damned
Building A Beast
Brother’s Keeper
Hellucinator
Detonation Ritual

http://forgedinblack.com/
https://www.facebook.com/forgedinblacks/

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