Positioned somewhere between Current 93 and Dead Can Dance, Unto Ashes have maintained an amazing track record, releasing one satisfying album after another. Songs for a Widow makes it five in a row and while the band's mix of apocalyptic folk and modern gloom isn't for everyone, this album has the best chance of enticing newcomers. Interludes that bridge tracks and a smart build to the album -- with more approachable numbers upfront, more difficult tracks pushed to the middle and back -- helps a lot, but what really separates Songs for a Widow from its predecessors is the warm, sometimes comfortable feel of the album, and the amazing sound quality, which sorts out the medieval/modern mix of the band better than ever before. Sounding as luxurious as the later Dead Can Dance releases, the album entrances with more organic, more hypnotizing material than usual up until "You Will Never Know" unleashes some jarring theatrical goth metal that's sinister and nihilistic. Longtime Unto Ashes fans are used to these unpredictable bursts of electronics cutting through the dulcimers and hurdy-gurdys, but here the device is used more sparingly, purposefully, and doesn't muddle a cohesive album like it has before. The darker, more militaristic second-half of the set arcs up to a brilliant cover of Covenant's "One World One Sky" which turns a synth-pop favorite into a throbbing pagan anthem fueled by earthy percussion and ethereal harmonies. - David Jeffries

"Your remembrances are like Unto Ashes, your bodies to bodies of clay" Job 13:12

The New York based trio Unto Ashes (Michael Laird, Natalia Lincoln, and Mariko) is currently on tour and their next performance is as headliner at the Court of Lazarus: A Metropolitan Vampire Society. And the Vampiric Court could not have chosen a better lead act as Unto Ashes exemplifies the current gothic/vampire scene: ancient in spirit, modern in practice. Unto Ashes find themselves at the peak of diversity as they approach their decade anniversary. Their latest work Songs for a Widow is the fifth full-length album produced by the American group, and like their others it’s on the Projekt label (with a simultaneous release in Europe on the Pandaimonium label).

“Songs” is as diverse musically as it is with its allusions (q.v., Notes). Drawing inspiration (and material) from a Mediaeval poet (anonymous), a Florentine scholar (Dante Alighieri), and a synthpop legend (Covenant), the record winds its way through funereal dirges, instrumental memorials, and metallic operas using assorted vocal and music styles. Yet one thing remains constant throughout the musical and literary odyssey: a sense of impending doom. This foreboding is maintained with lyrics (“And wear the Death Crown as Autumn falls”), martial beats (“Occupying Force”), and guest musicians playing cello (Catherine Bent), guitar (Katherine Burke), and hurdy gurdy (Melissa Kacalanos) in a manner that evokes a feeling of darkness.

Highlights include the unique take on (and two versions of) Covenant’s “One World One Sky” that opens and closes the work as well as “You Will Never Know” and “A Song for a Widow”, but the strength of Unto Ashes is the scholarship (both musical and literary) they bring to the whole project and, in fact, to their entire catalog. Such intelligent music is rare in our scene and Unto Ashes have few peers (although Dead Can Dance and Loreena McKennitt come immediately to mind). A minor criticism of this album is that its strong point (diversity) is occasionally a weak link as it is often a rough ride down cascading genres and crashing styles.

The tracks are excellent as individual pieces, but they don’t always segue well. This caveat seems irrelevant, however, in the age of single-file downloads. And Unto Ashes’ unique brand of chamber goth and neo folk deserves heavy rotation in any MP3 (or Compact Disc) player.

Unto Ashes' many aspects are brought together here, forming a song cycle that describes the inevitability of decline and death. Their sound incorporates taut drumheads, delicate guitar, softly forceful chants and female voices in choral harmony; it's a mix of many textures bound together by recurring themes. A thread of guitar from "My Lord is Born" twines through "Dream of the Rood," "I am Untouchable" updates the Gregorian harmonies in "Intacta Sum" with twenty-first century electronica. And the whole album is bookended by futurepop turned funereal dance, with hand drumming taking the machine's place. Michael Laird's acoustic guitar illuminates the band's Renaissance sound, but he explored new energies too, as harsher metal guitar scorches through "You Will Never Know." As always, pessimism permeates all but this is not a gloomy album. Rather, Unto Ashes draws inspiration from our downward spiral; as death is part of life, why not celebrate it with a certain fervor. -Carolee

As I've gone back and read through reviews of past works on this page I begin to realize how legendary this group is starting to become. Look back over their history and recent touring schedule and you start to catch a glimpse of how this band has grown over the years. This disc is a perfect example of all that the band has become in a few short years after so many solid releases. The packaging is what can be expected with lyrics, credits and some nice artwork on the cover. But as usual, it's the music on the disc that we're really interested in, and this disc contains fifteen stellar pieces that fans will love.

Making a perfect start to the album is "One World (Funeral" a short, slower version of their cover of this track put to the drums of a military funeral march. I'll revisit this track again towards the end of this review. "My Lord is Born" is a nice short piece with Michael taking the lead on vocals, presented in the somber style of old-world melancholy cantiques. This gives way to "Convivio" which is a female fronted track with a bit more of a middle-eastern style to it, upbeat and dance-friendly.

"Intacta Sum" serves as a natural break in the album, being a slow, somber piece and providing a nice segue to the beautiful instrumental "The Snow Leopard". This work drifts into a dark and moody atmosphere as the cello and violins are added. "You Will Never Know" is definitely a favorite on this disc as it starts out with angelic vocals and then delves into the dark moods with the addition of Michael's "sinister" distorted vocals and added electric guitar and crashing percussion. Rather than being overly dark and sinister, the overall feeling actually becomes one of angst and longing, tugging at the deepest emotions.

"Dream of the Rood" provides another interlude as a soft little instrumental piece with psychadelic atmospheres. The arrangement of selection of songs comes together so well and the transition into "The Life of this World" is a nice example. This somber piece has Michael again on vocals with backing angelic chorus that launches the listener into an ancient or mystical fairyworld. "Intermezzo", as unique as it is, being a reproduction of an old piece on an old record player even fits nicely before giving way to the harshness of "Drei Todesarten". This edgy piece adds some electric guitar and moving rhythms, though the female vocals soften it just a touch. At last we're brought to the title track which is as can be imagined a dark, moody, slowly dredging piece with a military percussion line and somber vocals. "Occupying Force" has beautiful siren-like vocals soaring over chanting, occasional percussion with a soft guitar accompaniment.

At this point we're brought to the finale of the album in the form of these three final tracks. "I Am Untouched" is really "Intacta Sum" remixed with a soft, moving techno beat and some added electronics. "In Memoriam Robert Luscombe" is a short angelic piece which leaves us with the climax and grand finale to the album. Maybe I appreciate this cover of Covenant's classic anthem as a club DJ more than many others, but this rendition of "One World One Sky" is an excellent cover done as only Unto Ashes could do. As a DJ I've had a lot of fun with this track doing mash-ups and remixes with the original from Covenant.

That wraps up the album and my review. Hopefully the reader can get a sense of the dynamic power, raw emotions and unique compositions of this disc and won't hesitate to go out and pick it up. Rating: 4.5/5

Unto Ashes, the band around Michael Laird, is an American gothic medieval band. Pretty much some sort of Estampie of the New World. Their repertoire however is fully inspired by the Old World. Songs for a Widow is their album and this one is released with projekt in the USA and Pandaimonium in Europe.

High-pitched ethereal vocals are dressed up with a rich instrumentation in which influences from classical (‘Intacta Sum’), medieval, oriental (‘Convivio’, ‘Drei Todesarten’), symphonic rock and darkwave music have been processed. The combinations of sounds and atmospheres are sometimes a bit peculiar yet they create a versatile album to listen to. A song such as ‘You Will Never Know’ has a layer of metal guitars, with a low-tuned guitar sound combined with ethereal vocals and black metal like half whispered screams. ‘The Life of this World’ is more towards traditional neofolk, ‘Occupying Force’ has a martial touch and ‘I Am Untouched’ with the electronic beats goes in the direction of the sound of Qntal.

The album is opened with a reference to Covenant’s ‘One World One Sky’ disguised as a requiem, and ended with a jolly medieval cover version of that same song. A bit strange yet very tasteful. This also goes for the entire album. The tracks unfortunately are a bit short in duration yet this has the advantage you won’t get bored very quickly as you are constantly introduced to different musical styles and influences.

Songs For a Widow is yet another quality record from New York’s unclassifiable ensemble Unto Ashes. I’m sorry to sound like a broken record about this (kids: ask you parents what this cliché means), but so far the group (here a trio with supplemental musicians) hasn’t missed a trick anywhere in its catalog. Songs continues the band’s odyssey through various folk, classical and gothic styles, sounding like Current 93’s American cousins one minute and Hades’ chamber orchestra the next. “My Lord is Born” is folk music from a pagan church, while “I am Untouched” takes a chorus of nuns to the dancefloor. “You Will Never Know” indulges in the arty black metal which has always lurked in Unto Ashes’ dark corners, while “One World One Sky” hearkens back to the glory days of Afro Celtic Sound System. The title track resurrects the ghosts of fallen soldiers on a bleak, synthesized landscape, complete with military samples; it’s immediately followed by “Occupying Force,” a chanted folk tune that’s an even angrier condemnation of imperialist war. Songs For a Widow doesn’t quite have the focus of past masterpieces, but it’s still a remarkable record by a band blazing its own trail far too silently. -Michael Toland

Songs for a Widow, Unto Ashes's fifth full album, is the musical equivalent of watching a kettle of vultures circling tomorrow's battlefield. The album begins with a re-interpretation of Covenant's synthpop anthem "One World One Sky" as a medieval-esque death dirge and doesn't really lighten up from there. As always, Unto Ashes show a deep commitment to the music they make, employing a wide range of traditional and modern instrumentation and an equally diverse number of languages to deliver their lyrical mysteries. Stylistically, the band combines permutations of medieval musical strains, apocalyptic folk, neoclassical movements, and enough haunting ethereality to make a cathedral candle flutter without wind. Though every track presents its own ominous shade, Unto Ashes also find room to offer a bit of experimentation to challenge the listener; for example, the song "You Will Never Know" begins as a morbid ballad with heavenly vocals, but picks up a soaring electric guitar solo along the way and climaxes in a fusion of militaristic drumming, distorted power chords, and black metal-inspired vocals before returning to a more somber bout of atmospherics. Closing the album is another re-working of "One World One Sky," this time as a pagan celebration in the face of human mortality. Grim has never been so compelling. 5 stars (out of 5) -Jack

With "Songs for a Widow" the New York trio Unto Ashes releases its fifth album. "Songs for a Widow" appears on Pandaimonium Records in Germany, unlike the four previous albums on Kalinkaland. To describe the style of the darkwavers requires more than just a word. Michael Laird, Natalia Lincoln, and Mariko have created an album whose reach spans from medieval sounds to dark synthetic darkwave-melodies to songs packed full of classical and historical string instruments. Throughout the whole album one is surprised again and again. Middle-Eastern folkloric elements as in "Convivio" alternate with powerful orchestral bursts such as on the wonderfully beautiful piece "Song for a Widow." To the exceptional pieces certainly belongs the metal-influenced "You Will Never Know." An electric-guitar lament unites with Mariko's beautiful soprano vocal in a dark symbiosis. The "grim" vocals recognizable in the background transform the mournful beginning of the ballade into a gloomy and unsettling piece. The Americans even break down the club hit "One World, One Sky" and lend the piece an unusual medieval guise. The song pleases me very much in this disguise, as it retains its Unto Ashes karma without losing its identity. In sum, the album has a very gloomy, bewildering, and melancholy effect. A changing spring of emotions breaks over the listeners. Harmonies are suddenly broken and transformed into subtle dissonances. The spirit of Gregorian chant submits to wild mood swings; quotes from old Latin and German myths or even a text out of Dante make up the lyrics. The multifaceted musical spectrum is sometimes hard to grasp right away. "Songs for a Widow" is an album which must be heard several times. Every time, I discovered new elements, sounds, melodies, words, and moods, until I could understand and appreciate the entire work.

Unto Ashes understands best how to pack their insatiable and multi-faceted inspiration into an album without sounding inauthentic or immature. Whoever knows the trio knows that they have always been hard to grasp and that they cannot be easily categorized without further ado. However, it is exactly this property that makes them so authentic and undefinable. Unto Ashes is worth a close study.

On the 18th of September Unto Ashes' fifth album will appear. It will be titled "Songs for a Widow," published in Europe by Pandaimonium. Ever since their two albums Moon Oppose Moon und Saturn Return the three-member band has been a household name. The last album, Empty Into White, came out in the beginning of 2004 and was celebrated by us as an outstanding piece of music.

Now 15 new songs come forward to reap either praise or criticism from the press, or, more importantly, to convert numerous followers of all ages. The spectrum of Unto Ashes is nearly unlimited, because their secret is that there are no limits. They combine forest metal, Heavenly Voices, church choir, and even electronic darkwave. As for the latter, they demonstrate this at length on their coming album, presenting Covenant's live-hit "One World One Sky" in completely new guise and repackaging the forceful melody in the usual Ashes fashion. Paired with wonderful voices of masculine devotion and feminine seduction, they fill each song with beauty and life.

The band manages to find the healthiest mixture of ancient instruments and futuristic synthesizers, in order to craft songs like "Convivio" or "The Snow Leopard," which recall the brilliant soundtrack to Diablo. The balance between good and evil is always upheld, and communicates with this album a very dark, yet shining feeling that is marked by timeless dedication. There are many bands in this genre, but no other is like Unto Ashes.

To find out more about this wonderful, unusual band, visit the website of their new label Pandaimonium!

Songs for A Widow is the fifth full-length album by Unto Ashes, a difficult to describe band that trips all over World Music, folk, medieval, and Goth-pop among others. The label describes this release as "an intense and magnificent album of apocalyptic folk, medieval doom, forest metal, heavenly voices, experimental gloomscapes, military funeral choirs, and synthetic darkwave." That is certainly a mouthful and while there really isn't any Metal to speak of, save for the guitar crunch and almost Black Metal vocals (called "grim vocals" in the liner notes) on "You Will Never Know," the Mediæval Bæbes, Enya, and Rondellus are repeatedly invoked, which is quite an interesting mix by anyone's standards. Fans of the Bæbes should definitely find a lot to enjoy on this experiment in soundscapes that ventures wildly into the incongruous while making the listener still feel familiar with it. On "Convivio" medieval litrugical vocals are mated with Oriental strings and Indian percussion (and more) to remarkable effect. Also of note is the band's two cover versions of Covenant's "One World One Sky." According to Michael Laird himself, "the first is "One World (Funeral)" which is a really slowed down dirge, recorded only with hurdy-gurdy and military drums; the second version is "One World One Sky" -- a wild dance of the fire-spirits, in which 'We shall celebrate, with such fierce dancing, the DEATH of your institutions!'" From the press release: "the album presents many subtle "echoes" throughout; thus the listener is harkened back to another place which may have occurred only moments -- or ages -- before." I can't say I disagree. Songs for a Widow is an interesting and ultimately rewarding listen. -Tony Belcher

Unto Ashes has an eternal quality – the music has roots in medieval melodies but paints them over very modern albeit gloomy dreamscapes. This is very evident on their newest release, Songs For A Widow. (Projekt Records) The trio making up Unto Ashes – Michael Laird (guitars, dulcimers, drums, percussion, tenor voice), Natalia Lincoln (keyboards, alto voice), and Mariko (violins, soprano voice) – deliver mournfully haunting memories on this new album that lays painfully raw emotions bare. "One World Funeral" starts things off with a somber march. "My Lord Is Born" is very Pagan, harking back to pre-christian Europe with tales of the sacrificial god. "Convivio" has an exotic, almost Middle Eastern flavor. "Intacta Sum" is a mesmeric acappella track, would almost sound like a Gregorian chant except the vocals are female and angelic. The instrumental "Snow Leopard" – the Crowgrrl’s favorite track on the album – is fire and ice, both hot and cold, and invokes the image of a beautiful but deadly predator crunching through the snow. "You Will Never Know" brings encroaching melancholy. "Dreams of the Rood," another instrumental, shares gloomy, fevered nightmares. "The Life Of This World" is a bittersweet lamentation. Another instrumental, "Intermezzo," sounds like a brief intermission at a vintage silent movie theater. "Drei Todesarten" is a bit livelier, with an almost Gypsy vibe. "Song For A Widow" is funereal and dismal, almost feels like an instrumental but there are whispered, barely discernable vox. "Occupying Force" is slightly militaristic, but subdued. "I Am Untouched" has a more upbeat tempo behind almost chanting vocals. "In Memoriam Robert Luscombe" is a caliginous canonization. "One World One Sky" is a Covenant cover, but given a distinct Under Ashes stamp, mixing Old and New worlds.