So, what do we have here? We have the following — a new TRISTANIA release titled Ashes. What can be said about the album? First of all, it was anticipated for about three years, and the result turned out to be rather middling. It's clearly no masterpiece, but it's hard to classify it as a bad record either. There's a certain sense of dilution throughout. Many compositions sound familiar, which makes them simply uninteresting to listen to, but the other half of the disc is an absolute joy! The female vocals paired with acoustic passages sound excellent. There's a great mishmash of styles — doom is clearly audible, and in places you can even detect symphonic black metal. Overall, the album will be of great interest to fans of the band. Beyond that, it's a matter of taste and personal preference.
