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Star of Ash
The Thread

Mnemosyne / Candlelight Records

Posted: Friday, February 29, 2008
By: Ilker Yücel
Editor

It's not uncommon to see a musician with an established footing in one genre of music make a successful foray into another sound and style. Heidi Solberg Tveitan, also known for her work in the experimental metal act Peccatum as Ihriel, makes such a transition with her solo material, as evidenced by the ambient modes and classical arrangements of The Thread. While her work in Peccatum was distinguished by a meshing of black metal and symphonic textures, her solo work has demonstrated a more varied approach with her solo work, beginning with 2001's Iter.Viator. The Thread continues along the path forged by that album. Created in collaboration with German composer Markus Reuter, the album exhibits a series of interweaving soundtracks where divergent elements create a web of melancholic, sometimes morose melodies. Beginning with the reverberating tones and twinkling pianos of "How to Invent a Heart," the track quickly adds tension as strings layered beneath a simplistic set of driving guitar harmonies lead into the mournful bass lines of "Him and Her." By the time we reach the piano and guitar arpeggios of "The World Spins for You" and "Drag Them Down," both of which lead into Tveitan's brief displays of vocal prowess with an ethereal mesh of sung harmonies, it becomes clear that The Thread is a perfect title for the record as each track follows the same line of progression, much like movements in an extended symphony. "The Snake Pit" proves to be one of the more abstract occurrences on the album, prominently featuring a simple creeping arpeggio melody with short stabs of orchestral brass and subtle electronic rhythms coming into play to indicate the impending arrival of a frightening crescendo that never quite appears. Tveitan's vocals become more prominent in "An Apology Gone Bad," though the emphasis on light guitar and symphonic elements is hardly understated, while "Blood, Bones, and a Skull" and "Crossing Over" perhaps bear the greatest resemblance to Peccatum with their interlocking guitar melodies with the subtlest of electronic effects in the percussion, complemented by the booming voice of Ulver's Kristoffer Rygg to add a welcome bit of goth rock histrionics. "Epilogue" ends the album proper with the shards of piano and Tveitan singing softly as if to lull the listener into a concluding dreamlike state. A bonus track (also present as a video on the CD) appears in the form of "Neo Drugismo," with cyberpunk writer Kenji Siratori chanting his distorted and malevolent wordplay just beneath the surface of the mix. While discernibly less metal, Star of Ash is no less experimental with its modernistic take on blending classical and folk music with goth rock, though the outcome is decidedly less dramatic than one might expect. Unless most bands of this ilk whose focus seems to be appealing to some amalgam of goth club-goers and Renaissance Festival patrons, Tveitan's musical aims seem more intent on the satisfaction of composition and atmosphere. Of course, this is but one of many possible interpretations for so dynamic a piece of work as The Thread, but suffice to say that this music is far reaching to fans of symphonic metal, gothic, and ambient.