This is the fourth album from Swiss black metal solo act Ashtar.
I enjoyed both 2015’s Ilmasaari and 2020’s Kaikuja, so wanted to check out Ashtar’s latest. Since those albums the band have become a solo endeavour, and I missed the artist’s 2023 album Wandering Through Time somehow. A little over a year since that record though and we have The Return of the Frozen Souls, which features 45 minutes of black/doom metal, (including a Samhain cover).
The Ashtar sound of 2024 is cold, windswept, and atmospheric. The black metal influence is in ascendance, although there are still elements of doom detectable throughout. The album offers a frozen vista of blackened darkness, moving with old-school grace and serpentine passion.
The second wave is convincingly invoked across The Return of the Frozen Souls. This is frequently done with a doom slant, but at other times in its raw atavistic form. Either way, the artist behind Ashtar knows what she is doing, and this new record is probably the purest distillation of her influences so far.
Emotive leads are used well, winding mournfully around the scathing screamed vocals. These leads are one of the album’s strengths, whether they’re despondent and grim, or twisting and vibrant. They blur the line between atmospheric black metal and old-school doom metal, having touches of both in places, and more; I’m put in mind at certain points of bands as diverse as Agalloch, Paradise Lost, Cradle of Filth, Forgotten Tomb, and Mütiilation.
The Return of the Frozen Souls is a good record. It effectively injects doom influences into the heart of icy black metal, making for a record that is thoroughly enjoyable.
Highly recommended.
Wonderbox Metal 