Track List

1) One Last Day
2) Embrace
3) Father Dearest
4) Angels are Weeping
5) Liar in Waiting
6) Little Tin Goddess

Desecrated Ashes was the full release of the EP Consecrated Ashes. The release year was 2003, and the band has continued to do well. URN is based out of Chicago, but has toured in many cities. They have even had airplay of their music in Canada and Mexico, not to mention the United States.

On first listen, Desecrated Ashes was a little hard to get into. Honestly, I felt very indifferent about the album. After more listening, I really started to warm up to the music.

The music flows in and out of its haunting lyrics, sometimes taking front stage, other times the backseat to the vocals. As an overall album, this haunting sound takes you by the hand, and into the world of URN.

One Last Day is the opener for the album, and what an opener it is. Lyric wise, it is a plea to spend one more day on earth with someone. The vocals do a wonderful job complementing each other. Their vocal support along with the guitar harmony makes a wonderfully haunting mix. Music wise, it opens with a simple piano solo, which develops into a wonderful guitar solo, then into a band verse.

Embrace is a bit harder on the guitars that One Last Day. It gives an energy and pulse to the album. The guitar/bass/drum break in between the verses is amazing. Rhythmically challenging, URN keeps up the beat and pulls through wonderfully. On the second repetition of this, the piano joins in, giving it a completely different sound, but still keeping the pulse of the song.

Father Dearest is by far the most lyrically catching song on the album. It is sung by the two lovely ladies of the band, and boy what a job do they do. They are mourning their father, and the music backs up that feeling. It sounds more like a funeral requiem than anything, which fits the mood of the album, as well as the band.

Angels are Weeping is the one song that I don’t care for. The music is wonderful, but the soprano line just doesn’t appeal to me. The vocalists all have amazing voices, but I think the operatic Soprano line doesn’t fit the feeling of the song. Unfortunately this would be my pick for least liked song on the album.

Liar in Waiting is a wonderful bass driven song with an underlying Waltz Feel (trust me, its there). The gothic piano gives a great dark overtone to this song.

Little Tin Goddess is definitely the most upbeat song of the album, and it’s still rather dark. With rock guitar lines and fast tempo, this song powers through till the end, giving us a picture of the Lord of the Night. Beckoning all those to come to her, she seeks to rule the night.

An overall impression of this album is this: the band has enormous potential. Desecrated Ashes is a great start for them, but they have a lot of room for improvement. Give this album a shot, especially if you are looking for mood music or to just relax too.

The band has also lost members since the recording of this album. Overall, I think it was for the best. The addition of Ian Nothing was very apparent during the concert at the Main Stage in Waukesha in April. I was blown away by not only their stage presence, but the development of their sound. If they keep this up, they could end up big. You will definitely be reading more about them from not only me, but the Flames Rising Staff as well.

Happy Listenings!

Reviewer: Crystal Mazur

Tags | gothic, Music, URN