With THE EMBER, THE ASH, the Canadian solo musician with the pseudonym 鬼, whose main project Unreqvited took a turn towards post-rock on its last album, has released a largely unnoticed but quite remarkable depressive black metal album: „Consciousness Torn From The Void“. On this occasion we asked the busy artist some questions about his motives behind the founding of the project, the sonic differences to Unreqvited and the narrative of the debut album, which he answered in the following interview.
THE EMBER, THE ASH is a rather unusual name for a black metal project. What is the idea behind it?
A dichotomy between life and death, I suppose. The ember representing life and the ash representing death. The lyrical concept of the debut album revolves around entities going back and forth between life and death (the void) throughout the songs.
People know you mainly through Unreqvited, with which you gradually moved more towards post-rock. THE EMBER, THE ASH is clearly dedicated to depressive black metal. Why did you think it necessary to start a separate project for this?
Unreqvited is devoid of lyrics, and I had some lyrical content that I wanted to share. I also wanted to approach it with a different vocal style than I would for Unreqvited’s music. The newest Unreqvited album is by far the darkest, but I think that’s as dark as I want Unreqvited to be. For the album after „Mosaic II“, Unreqvited will be going back to more of an atmospheric black metal sound. THE EMBER, THE ASH will have no limit to how dark it can be, and it’s very cathartic to have that as an outlet through dark times.
How did your audience – especially those who appreciate the post-rock sound of Unreqvited – react to this change of style?
THE EMBER, THE ASH didn’t necessarily get that much recognition from the debut album, however, the fans reacted very positively to it. I’m just finishing up the next THE EMBER, THE ASH album now, and I think it will be a bit of a shock to the listeners. It is not a depressive black metal record.
As you already mentioned, „Mosaic II“, the upcoming record you will release with Unreqvited, is also said to sound darker again. In your opinion, why wasn’t it redundant to create THE EMBER, THE ASH in the meantime?
I actually wrote „Mosaic II“ back in 2018, so over a year ago. Throughout 2019 I had an itch to create darker music, but I didn’t want to make something similar to „Mosaic II“. I wanted to make something that sounded gritty, raw, lo-fi. Not something I generally do with Unreqvited. The vocal style is also important to note. Unreqvited’s vocal style is limiting, so I wanted to do something completely different.
Did you find it difficult to go for a different style with THE EMBER, THE ASH concerning the songwriting, for example, by relying less on keyboards?
Not at all, I write tons of different kinds of music. „Consciousness Torn From The Void“ pretty much just flowed right out of me in about two months time. I wasn’t even necessarily trying to avoid keyboards, because I still featured some in most of the songs. It just came out that way with me wanting a rawer sound. The next THE EMBER, THE ASH album has lots of keyboards.
You didn’t completely abandon the keyboards, so that the songs, which otherwise are reminiscent of Leviathan and Xasthur, still sound a bit symphonic in parts. Why didn’t you want to stick to typical black metal instrumentation?
I’m such a huge fan of symphonics, it’s hard for me not to include those elements. It’s just kind of become a huge part of who I am as a songwriter. I love bands like Xasthur, Emperor, Dimmu Borgir, Carach Angren, etc., so any black metal music I write usually has symphonic elements thrown in.
While Leviathan also works a lot with ambient soundscapes, Xasthur has meanwhile switched to playing dark folk. Would you therefor say that, similar to them having those trademarks, the keyboards are yours?
100%. I guess I accidentally answered this in my previous answer.
As far as I know „Consciousness Torn From The Void“, the debut album of THE EMBER, THE ASH, has spawn from a dark phase of your life. Would you say that creating this album helped you get through this in any way?
Yes, most definitely. This has been a really difficult year for me. Being able to spawn this new project and write two albums within the second half of 2019 has helped me get through the year.
I also have the impression that the songs contain quite extensive lyrics – especially compared to Unreqvited, which, as you mentioned, doesn’t have lyrics at all. Why is that so?
If you meet me in person, you’ll notice that I don’t really do a whole lot of speaking. I always found that writing instrumental music was the most articulate way for me to communicate my emotions. I do, however, write lyrics and poetry here and there when I feel inspired to do so. I prefer Unreqvited to remain devoid of lyrics, so THE EMBER, THE ASH was born out of a desire to actually speak about something.
To me, the lyrics read like a whole narrative that begins very tragically and dissolves almost peacefully towards the end. What did you have in mind with regard to the concept?
I wanted it to be able to be interpreted as a full story from the first track to the last, or as individual stories. You’re right, the ending is very much a release from the tension of the rest of the record. Although, every track ends in release: the release of death, or the return of one’s consciousness to the void. For example, every track (apart from the last one and the instrumental interlude) ends with the phrase „consciousness restored to the void“. I could have titled the album „consciousness restored to the void“, but I feel like this is an album of struggle and release, and I wanted the title to reflect the struggle.
Your screaming on the record sounds a lot more gripping and nastier than in your songs with Unreqvited. You mentioned that you use your voice in a different way. What can you tell us about that?
Yes, this is a completely different vocal technique. I used to tour as a vocalist in a metal band, so I’m pretty able to do standard „metal screaming“ vocals. Unreqvited is literally just me yelling, there’s really no technique to that. It would be pretty difficult live.
In our last interview you mentioned that production was the most difficult aspect of making music for you. Was it also a challenge for you to give the songs of THE EMBER, THE ASH a different sound than those of Unreqvited?
It was a challenge because it was a new approach, for sure. Although it’s sonically more raw and lo-fi, it was still difficult to achieve the sound I wanted. It came out pretty much exactly how I wanted it to though, so I’m very happy with that.
„Restoration“ is an interlude of choir-like keyboards that are shortly turning quite unsettling towards the end. What was your intention behind this short interlude?
I wanted something short and eerie to act as an interlude to the album. I remember I was trying to write something really stripped down with hardly any instruments at all, basically just the choirs and a low drone. I wanted it to symbolize the departure of one’s consciousness into the spirit world. I remember the image I had in my head for this track was a bright light at the end of a tunnel. Some of the choir melodies are happy and melodic, and some are dissonant and unsettling. Kind of like the various thoughts that may be going though one’s mind when they are staring the beautiful white light of death in the face.
The artwork of „Consciousness Torn From The Void“ is dark and grainy, which fits the music, and among other things the texture looks interesting. Can you tell us who is responsible for the picture and how it was created?
It was done by Asep Yasin Abdullah (@yasinviolet on instagram). Fantastic artist.
Even though the project seems to be tied to the situation during which it was created, you do plan to release more music under the name THE EMBER, THE ASH in the future. Can you tell us something about that?
Yes, the second album is finished now. It’ll be coming out early/mid next year. It’s very dark, but it’s different from the debut. I don’t know how much I want to reveal, but I put a lot of work into the production this time, so it doesn’t necessarily have that raw black metal sound. I polished it up a little more and there are more symphonics this time around.
Finally I would like to go through our traditional Metal1.info brainstorming with you. What comes to your mind first while reading the following terms?
Nirvana: Not a fan at all.
Happiness: It’s a journey. I’m not quite there yet.
Climate crisis: An epidemic.
Outer space: Quite unfathomable.
Ghost Bath: Good friends. <3
Music streaming: Very convenient for the listener. As an artist, I think the exposure from platforms like Spotify is great.
Thanks again for your answers. I would like to leave the final words to you:
First off, thank you very much for the interview. I really appreciated these questions, I enjoyed going in depth on the album and the concept. I’m working on tons of new music, so 2020 is going to be extremely busy for me. If you enjoy what I do, please keep an eye out for new Unreqvited and new THE EMBER, THE ASH in the coming year. Maybe even some new projects.
13. Januar 2020 Stephan Rajchl
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