Album Review: From Ashes To New: Reflections

From Ashes To New deliver one of the band's most emotionally honest and filmic releases in their careers, Reflections.

Listening to this album, a lot of different emotions are evoked in From Ashes To New’s new record, Reflections. It’s a record that feels like they are really staring themselves down. Past the bravado, past genre’s expectations, and past the survival instinct that has gotten them this far since they started as a band in 2013. A band that always viewed duality as an escape from the common tropes of metalcore, From Ashes To New takes rap and rock, rage and vulnerability, and collapse and comeback and has used these tools to create their new release, Reflections. This record is not only about the versions of ourselves we bury but also about the ones resurrected and the parts of ourselves we are terrified of.

Reflections makes clear early on what this record is about. There is a palpable tension that surfaces at the beginning with “Drag Me,” “Forever,” and “Villain.” When the dust settles, who are we? When the mask slips, what is hidden underneath? Who are we when the past refuses to stay buried and starts to swallow the future into its dark throat, preventing us from moving forward? These questions become the thesis of this album's internal dialogue, a conversation between the band’s younger, agitated selves and individuals who have grown from youthful anger and frustration into more self-aware, world-worn people standing in the tower-imbued atmosphere of the present. It’s jagged, defensive, and sometimes contradictory, but these very movements in this album are what make this so compelling.

“Die For You,” “Blackhearts,” and “Upside Down” continue this exchange of unclean dialogue. Diving into realms of fractured identity, the cynical nature of trauma, the exhaustion of constant rebuilding, and how the fear of growing up can ultimately snuff out the fires that once defined oneself. Deeply atmospheric and intense, these tracks move into this uncomfortable territory of emotional claustrophobia, almost as if one were trapped in a room full of mirrors, every reflection displaying numerous versions of what one could have been.

From there, “(Not) Psycho,” “Parasite,” and “New Disease” keep the momentum going as the album continues to forge this path of polished fury and cinematic edge. Sonically, this part of the album is the most cohesive and high-glossed, sometimes overwhelmingly so, but these thick textures only drive home the helplessness and anxiety that paint each track. The guitars hit like concrete slabs falling from an apartment building, and electronic textures only feed this pulsating dystopian paranoia, as the choruses explode with a kind of theatricality that is bursting with gravid arena-tinged heaviness. The band’s use of rap-rock interplay is the strongest it's ever been, especially in "Parasite" and “Darkside,” where the band’s signature grit and rap cadence have evolved into something more controlled, smoother, and deliberate.

Such tracks open the gates to the album's best tracks, “Falling From Heaven” and “Ghost.” The transitions from agitation to melody are gorgeous. From hooks that are undeniably anthemic without being empty, to its sharp, layered emotional delivery, to its decadent electronic elements, Reflections ends on a high note, showcasing one of the most emotionally honest deliveries the band has put out.

While much of the production is pristine and really brings out the best parts of the style this band has helped to perfect, some of the grit feels a bit lost and sometimes boxed in. The band has made significant leaps and bounds on Reflections, creating something that feels modern, with the last half of the album really showing off the band's razor-sharp creative teeth. As strong as this offering is, some might feel that Reflections shows signs of wanting to break free from some of its signature soundscapes, but it doesn’t take it there completely. But to counteract such thoughts, why try to break something that doesn’t need to be fixed? Reflections is a prime example of a band that is willing to take familiar territories from pain to resilience and takes them to a place where there is a deeper weariness beneath that. This is a version of the band where “rising above it all” hurts more than it heals, rebuilding is a chore, and the scars from survival continue to bleed and never heal. For this version of the band, Reflections stands out because it’s willing to let the facade crack. Alive, messy, human, and unfiltered, Reflections’ sound may feel polished and clean, but its emotional value comes through as anything but.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w88dbr1A8M