One of the newest additions to the Prosthetic Records roster, THE EMBER, THE ASH is preparing to release sophomore album, Fixation. The solo endeavor of a musical polymath who goes only by the name 鬼, THE EMBER, THE ASH is a project shrouded in mystery – yet also offers recognisable glimpses into emotional turmoil. Distinct from their work as Unreqvited, Fixation follows on from THE EMBER, THE ASH’s 2019 highly acclaimed release, Consciousness Torn From The Void.
Straddling the gulf between symphonic black metal and textured metalcore, Fixation
is a unique blend of ice cold precision and a swirl of enveloping audio textures. The seven tracks that make up the album were written in 2019/20 before being entirely self-recorded and mixed in their home studio; mastering was handled by Nekkomix.
With a theme that picks through the debris of mental illness, 鬼 drew upon their own experiences of witnessing a loved one suffer through a traumatic episode. Exploring their own reaction to the fraught timeline of events, 鬼 channels their emotional response into the lyrics and music that make up Fixation. Suicidal ideation and spiraling thought patterns loom large over the album that is steeped in sombre atmosphere throughout. The distress of both witnessing and harboring such dark thoughts are at the core of the record’s aggressive sound as well as its lyrical content.