Ashent – Inheritance

Ashent were formed in 2001 by brothers Gianpaolo and Onofrio Falanga (bass and guitar respectively). They were joined over the coming months by keyboard player Paolo Torresani, singer Max Zhena, guitarist Thomas Giro and drummer J.C.  Since that time however, the band have gone through several lineup changes with the brothers being the only surviving original members, and here they stand 11 years on with their third full length release Inheritance.

In my opinion, power metal should be atmospheric, grandiose, operatic and even a little pompous at times. Ashent show flashes of these traits consistently, but on this album they get lost or watered down amongst the unnecessary over working of a majority of the songs.  For example, opening track Eve’s operatic intro gives way to thunderous drums and guitar work, but slowly dissolves into something resembling free form jazz with mismatched vocals and sadly it is the same on many other tracks on this album.

It’s a real shame, because the band exhibit an exceptionally high standard of musicianship, with all members clearly proficient in how to get the best out of their instrument, be it the Satriani inspired soloing or singer Titta’s excellent voice which comes with awesome range to match any in the genre.

I get the feeling that Ashent have tried to be progressive and ground breaking with their song structure and arrangement on this album for which they should be applauded, I just wish they had reined it back a wee bit because when they got it right on this album it really works well.  Renaissance is a beautiful ballad and part of its beauty is its intrinsic simplicity.  On the other hand, there are examples of where the new song structure does work.  La Danzatrice Scalza is a track that for the most part is an instrumental that takes what the band were trying to do and shows that it can work (just perhaps without the vocals) with a small amount of vocal added towards the end of the song but in a more traditional style.

On the whole the album is very well put together and does have a big power metal sound, but I just can’t get into it because of the poor song structure. As a result, I shall be awarding Inheritance by Ashent 5/10.

Ashent released Inheritance through Lion Music on 21^st September 2012.

Track Listing:

1. Eve
2. Magnification Of A Daydream
3. Shipwrecked Affair
4. Fractural
5. Spider’s Nest
6. Renaissance
7. The Starving Litany
8. Confessions Of Reimman
9. La Danzatrice Scalza
10. The Defiant Boundary
11. Labyrinthique

Ashent are –
Titta Tani – Vocals
Onofrio Falanga – Guitars
Alessandro Cossu – Guitars
Gilles Boscolo – Keyboards
Gianpolo Falanga – Bass
Davide Buso – Drums

www.ashent.net
www.facebook.com/Ashentband
www.myspace.com/ashentband
www.metal-archives.com/bands/Ashent
www.lionmusic.com/cd/inheritance.htm