Band:	The Prophecy
Album:	Ashes
Style:	Death doom metal
Release date:	2003
A review by:	Undercraft

01. Ashes
02. The Killing Fields
03. The Prophecy
04. Dawn
05. Blackened Desire
06. Till Light Enshrouds

Doom, what a wonderful genre of metal, sad feelings, emptiness, despair, sorrow and all those things that balance the happy moments of life. The fact that there's a group of people making sad music makes me want to be depressed just to appreciate the music, I don't know if it's just me but I enjoy my Doom records better when I'm sad.

Right now I'm feeling kinda down, so is the time to review this one, The prophecy and his first effort under the new British label Blackdoom Records.

The Prophecy hails from the same area as Doom masters Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride, so some of the influences are clear, listening Ashes is like hearing some old release of My Dying Bride, in other words, great.

I could say great things about this album, but the greatest here is Matt Lawson, the vocalist, he has a deep growl, and a sorrowful clean voice, just listen the opener track 'Ashes' and you'll see what I'm talking about.

The songs are long and slow, like Doom should be, except for 'Blackened Desire' a really fast and upbeat song, that seems to me more of a Black Metal song than a Doom/Death one, still is a great song, and by far, the heaviest of the album.

The song 'The Prophecy' is a brilliant masterpiece, clocking almost 10 minutes, here's where this guys show us how Doom Metal should be done! Matt Lawson vocals sound great on this one, and the guitar leads are just so deep [just check out the long solo in the middle of the song], definitively my favorite track on this album.

A special mention to the cover art, which is just great, and the booklet could have included some lyrics, but you can found them on the website.

If you are fan of My Dying Bride, and Doom Metal in general, check this out, a really good album, with excellent musicianship, and great vocals.