Monday, August 20, 2018

Album review and tour news: The Future, From Ashes To New

A few days ago, a car, stuck in traffic on the main street through town, windows down, and blasting, seriously blasting, From Ashes To New's song from a while back, Through It All. That was a first, I thought, a first for this town. May there be many more...

What's so special, you may well ask. We've been hearing From Ashes To New for a while, and they deserve blasting. They deserve being heard, and loud, from cars, at festivals, in concert halls, on our music systems.

What's so very special about hearing From Ashes To New blasting from a car here, is that this is not a town in the USA where they have toured, nor is it where they grew up in Pennsylvania, nor anywhere people have heard them on USA satellite radio, Sirius XM Octane. This is Cromer, a little seaside town on the beautiful, quiet and gentle North Norfolk coast in England, far from any venue or festival where hard rock and metal is played. The closest you get to hearing anything heavy is bleeding from my earbuds when I remove one, walking on the beach, so that I can hear if a cliff is going to drop on my head... or if the wonderful Bloodshake Chorus have a gig in town. You might hear a whisper of 70's punk when you wander past the community hall on Garden Street, if the record fair is in town. Other than that, it's tribute bands at the pier theatre and Cromer Hall... so yes, it was a big deal, and it made me smile.

I first heard From Ashes To New in 2015, when they were on tour and opening for Five Finger Death Punch, Papa Roach and In This Moment in Reno, and I saw them again at The Boardwalk in Orangevale in 2016. Since then, there have been some changes to the lineup, and a couple of weeks ago, the bands new album, The Future, was released on Better Noise. (Find it here.)

Matt Brandyberry, vocals, From Ashes To New
Matt Brandyberry, From Ashes To New
It's an excellent album, and well worth adding to your collection. Powerful lyrics, sung and rapped vocals intertwining, hooks to hang onto and several earworms... From Ashes To New expertly blend hip-hop, rock, metal, spoken word, pop... mixing it all with their own unique magic to create something that will appeal to wide audience.

Take a listen to Broken here:



And I particularly enjoy:



I expect to hear the entire album blasting from many more cars, both in the USA and over here in Europe, for very much of The Future. Because the Future is Now. (Couldn't resist...)

From Ashes To New are on tour and will make stops at San Antonio's River City Rockfest, Louisville, Kentucky's Louder Than Life, and at New Jersey's Rock Allegiance festivals, together with other dates around the USA. Find all tour details here on the band's website or the From Ashes To New Facebook. Not at Aftershock in Sacramento this year, but wait... they'll be at the Golden 1 Center on 13th November, supporting Five Finger Death Punch and Breaking Benjamin!

From Ashes To New are Matt Brandyberry (vocals/guitar/keys/programming), Danny Case (vocals), Lance Dowdle (guitar), and Mat Madiro (drums). Find out more! (And I really must catch up with them soon... time for new photos! All the 2015/16 gigs are here.)

Lance Dowdle, guitar, From Ashes To New
Lance Dowdle, From Ashes To New

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