Ashes of the Wake

The album-closing epic of its record, and it wears the weight of that position consciously. The track begins with clean acoustic guitar layered in a way that sounds genuinely mournful before the full band arrives, and even then the entry is controlled rather than explosive — this is a song that has already decided it's going to take its time. The subject matter, drawn from the Iraq War and its human cost as reported by soldiers themselves, gives the music a gravity that transcends the genre's usual concerns. There are spoken-word passages from veterans intercut with the instrumental sections, and the decision to let those voices speak without musical competition is an act of restraint that says more than adding another guitar layer would have. Blythe's delivery is measured and considered, and the guitars spend long stretches playing melodic leads rather than riff-cycling, as if the songwriters understood that brutality would be tonally wrong here. The solo section is extended and genuinely expressive, one of the more emotionally intelligent guitar performances in the genre. Best heard as the conclusion of a full album listen, but also in its own right on late evenings when something historical and heavy has been on your mind and needs somewhere to go.