Metal band Phoenix Ashes has ended 2024 with a bang. After releasing two new singles earlier last year, the band has finally released their EP titled The End of the World in December 2024!
Working closely with producer Erwin Hermsen of Toneshed Studio, the band crafted a fresh sound. The previously released singles – “Oceans” and “Defiance” – introduced a new energy, with the latter even being nominated as Limburg’s Song of the Year at the end of 2024. This newfound strength is carried through to the four-track EP, showcasing both the band’s growth and the vast experience in metal brought by Hermsen.
Thematically, the lyrics of lead vocalist and songwriter Eelko Lommers follow two main lines. The songs “Oceans” and “Shores of Lethe” encourage self-reflection and perspective. Meanwhile, “Defiance” And “End of the World” offer a critical look at the world and humanity’s impact on it.
In addition to the digital release across all streaming platforms, The End of the World will also be available as a physical CD. The band will release a special edition with several older tracks as bonus content. These tracks were previously released digitally as singles but have never been available on a physical disc.
In keeping with the title, the EP was released on Friday, December 13th. Phoenix Ashes celebrated this milestone with a release party at the Muziekgieterij in Maastricht. Along with their good friends in Darkk (DE) and the new band Perennial Void, they provided enough musical fireworks to kick off the new year in style.
Okay, onto the review. This EP had my mouth on the floor. The flow of the tracks and the goosebumps that rose on my skin over the instrumentals mixed with the haunting yet powerful vocals that turned into screams of defiance (pun intended) out of the speakers just begging the listener to hear the lyrics and recognize the parallels in society today.
It’s no secret that I am a BIG fan of these guys, they’ve been with me in my photography journey and watched me start my writing career here at DS, but this ended up being my top album of the year. Honestly, it had a lot to do with “The Shores of Lethe” and the lyrics in there, and we’ll get to that heaviness here in just a second. If you haven’t seen the other two reviews yet and wish to read those first, you can check out “Defiance” and “Oceans“.
“End of the World” is a killer way to start this EP off. It gives this build up vibe right off the bat and immediately tells the listener to strap in. It’s super energetic and automatically makes me want to start jumping to prepare for the breakdown and get rowdy in the pit. The lyrics also are the more “in your face” type like “Defiance” comes at us with, and is the perfect way to lead right into its more mellow counterparts “Oceans” & “The Shores of Lethe”. “End of the World” kicks us in the gut right off rip with a harsh, yet often overlooked, reality in the lyrics “I’m staying up for the end of the world // The headlines are fading like Netflix and Chill”. The headlines that are rotating through the media are changing so rapidly, we honestly have almost too much information to consume. “The city’s alive but everyone’s dead”, to me, just screams everyone is moving and going through their motions, but internally, we are all just husks doing just that, going through the motions. I find my favorite bit of the whole track, though, is the last verse. It’s got this just blaring truth about it and I can’t help but snap back into reality when I hear these lyrics because they hit me pretty hard almost every time it comes on. “A spectacular mess // The world’s gone to hell // No selfies or hashtags // A single farewell // We danced on our grave when we started the fire // And now we’ve lost from our own desire.” Tell me that doesn’t scream even an inkling of truth about today’s world. Truly a genius way to kick off an EP of these themes.
Whoever is credited with the song order for this EP has my highest praise and respect. The song to follow “The End of the World” is “Oceans,” again, click the title to read it’s review because with that being my second favorite track, I have quite a bit to say about it! Now, at first, I thought they were going to have “Defiance” hit after Oceans, because then it would be an in-your-face song, then mellow-ish song, in-your-face song, mellow-ish song, but I was SORELY mistaken! They hit us with Oceans (again, my second favorite song on the EP), and then they go and hit us with just as heavy of a song lyrically with instrumentals that are a tad heavier in spurts throughout the track. For my favorite song on this EP, The Shores of Lethe is about a truth that not all of us realize or even care to understand. First verse already tears my heart in two with its truth, explaining how pieces of us are left with those we love “And everything that lovers lost // Is buried deep beneath your feet // On the shores of Lethe I set sail // All I was is left with those who care.” Then the instrumentals and the repetitive lyrics seems like they’re almost trying to drill these facts that may be right in front of the listener into their heads, force them to listen to the truth in the song. The reason this song tops out as my favorite song on the album is because of the second verse, “Our memories destined to be lost in time // On the shores of Lethe // Take only what you can hold in your heart // For that is all we can carry.” Those words hit me like a freight train when I realized the truth in them. We truly only take our memories with us when we leave, and others will take pieces of us with them as they go. The band wraps up the EP with their killer Suicidal Tendancies-esque track, Defiance, and you can click the title right there to read it (if you didn’t earlier)!
It all was such a core memory moment for me when I truly processed the lyrics of “Oceans” and “The Shores of Lethe” just to fall in love with the two songs (and the others, too!), and I will forever be grateful to Phoenix’Ashes for their love, support, and most importantly, their incredible music they continue to make for those of us that need it for our souls to survive this insane thing called “Life”. Thank you so much, you guys, and I can’t wait to hear more and keep getting the word out for you in the future!
The End of the World is now streaming on all platforms as of Friday, December 13th, 2024!!
