Ashbringer’s 2019 album Absolution is the gold standard to which I hold all other atmospheric, post-black metal. It’s refracted, kaleidoscopic whirl of immersive light, hopeful yearning and deep melancholic introspection still illuminates my mind with wonder more than six years after release. Between the incredibly playful yet poignant compositions, wonderful production, defiant and life-affirming lyrics and the sheer scope of that release, it’s a tough act to follow for any band, including the Minneapolis act themselves. 2023's We Came Here To Grieve still showed glimmers of greatness (notably, the incredibly catchy main riff on “Pages”), but largely suffered from the many changes in sound and direction it made. Between the loss of Ian Sutherland’s playful, jazzy kitwork, the shorter and more stripped down compositions, and the ill-advised focus on very rough-around the edges clean vocals We Came Here To Grieve leeched Asbringer's sound of most life and color. I thus approached Subglacial with an appropriate mix of hope and despair, hoping for a return to the sweeping, immersive tides of Absolution. While those expectations were unlikely to be met, since the band pride themselves on their evolution, the return to their roots described in the promo material has taken them in a direction I can absolutely appreciate, if not to the level of Absolution.
Subglacial generally feels like a compromise between the more truncated, stripped back and punchy qualities of WCHTG and Absolution. At a very tight 39 minutes, it’s even shorter than their last album, but features only six songs, generally longer and more vibrant than on their last outing. The organic and immersive warmth of Absolution can be felt once more, like a frozen forest glittering at the first onset of spring’s thaw. Luckily, the odd forays into front and center clean vocals have been left by the wayside, and Ashbringer are firmly rooted in atmospheric black metal once more. There is still a more chuggy edge to some of the riffs, especially on “My Flesh Shows It’s Weakness”, “Subglacial” and “Send Him To the Lake”, that leans into melodic death, hardcore and post-metal territory on occasion. While I’m not entirely enamored with this vestige of the last album’s sound, it does make latching on to some of these songs easier and allows for some appreciative head bobs.
Subglacial’s frozen glimmer still shines most brightly in the moments it refracts the vulnerable, plaintive and gorgeous tones of Ashbringer’s roots. The gorgeous, lilting melody of “Waning Conviction”, with its abundant mix of acoustic and electric guitar and deeply affecting vocal performance are an early album highlight. This one had me hoarsely screaming along to its climactic lyrics in a way I haven’t since 2019s “Dreamscape” or “Wilderness Walk”. The title track, with its jazzy drum intro and strong atmosphere, also masterfully bursts into life for another powerful rendition of Ashbringer’s current sound, hearkening back to Absolution’s glory days with heartfelt lyrics, jangly yet mighty melodies and warm tones. Topped off by the album’s arguable centerpiece “Fleeing into Portals”, this triptych works marvelously and walks the tightrope of reinventing what worked so well for them before while retaining some of the questionable immediacy of their previous album, as shown on the much more agreeable yet no less immediate driving drum pattern that rears its snow-capped head on the back half of “Fleeing into Portals”.
“Send Him To the Lake” and “Vessels” prove less effective, for entirely different reasons. The former leans too far into a bleaker, plodding post-metal sound for my taste, leeching the song of its vibrancy, whereas the latter feels like an overly formulaic and truncated attempt at distilling Ashbringer's core atmospheric black metal sound, while losing most of its soul in the process. Subglacial shows Ashbringer coming to grips with returning to the most triumphant iteration of their sound in many ways, while continuing to evolve and refine their sound. While my unrealistic hopes for Absolution 2.0 were not met, most of the missteps of WCHTG were deftly rectified here, and I will continue immersing myself in the lush growth of their sound, hoping the next album continues further towards the next warm, organic, hopeful yet melancholic atmospheric black metal masterpiece.