Artist description Unto Ashes: wicked neo-medieval / witchcraft / gloom / experimental / Arabic / gothic / apocalyptic folk.

Music Style Wicked neo-medieval / doom / experimental / apocalyptic folk

Musical Influences Classical music, medieval music, Arabic music, neo-folk, apocalyptic folk

Similar Artists Sometimes compared to Dead Can Dance / Coil / Sopor Aeternus / This Mortal Coil

Artist History Formed in October 1997, Unto Ashes live in New York City, and are signed to Projekt Records.

Group Members Michael Laird, Natalia Lincoln, Mariko, Kathy Burke

Instruments Acoustic guitars, keyboards, hammered dulcimer, Persian and African percussion, Appalachian dulcimers, hurdy-gurdy, tamboura, drones, loops, treatments

Albums Empty Into White (Projekt 147); Saturn Return (Projekt 117); Moon Oppose Moon (Projekt 106); Forever Sick (EP, Dying Time - out of print)

Press Reviews Praise for "EMPTY INTO WHITE" - 4 Stars | "Unto Ashes just seems to keep getting better and better with time, and that's not merely a great thing, it's fantastic. That a band (especially an American band) could so perfectly distill a wide range of influences into its own distinct apocalyptic folk/rock dream and then improve on that is breathtaking; if admitted influence Coil has an even wider cast of the net, Unto Ashes certainly aren't slouches in comparison. The quartet's widest-ranging and most confident album yet, Empty Into White is a swirling, beautiful dream of an album, from its entrancing cover art and design to the lush, majestic progression of the songs. With a lineup now fully stabilized around the core of Michael Laird, Natalia Lincoln and Ericah Hagle -- Jeremy Bastard completes the lineup, while a variety of guest performers assist -- the band steps up from the already excellent Saturn Return to combine and rework musical inspirations like no act since Dead Can Dance. The sheer fluidity of the group's sound and how it seems to effortlessly combine and recombine quietly stuns on almost song for song. There's the easy slide from Laird's French-sung "C'Y Commence Le Jeu" to Hagle's tour-de-force "Spider Song," the Middle Eastern dreamscapes of "Bathsheba Writhing" and "Persephone, Queen of the Underworld," the dark chimes and subtle threat of "Ah, Sunflower!" and much more. Perhaps the most telling touch is the inclusion of two covers -- Tori Amos's "Beauty Queen" and Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper." For the former, the lyrics are translated into Latin and given an entrancing choral arrangement, while the latter becomes an astonishing acoustic guitar lament mixing male and female vocals. When electric guitar does appear, the band touches on the song's legendary sound without exactly replicating it -- the type of thing that only a truly individual band can do. -- Ned Raggett (AllMusicGuide.com). ~~~~~~ Praise for "SATURN RETURN" - 4 Stars | "This is over the top Gothic pop. Unto Ashes showed on their debut that it was a diverse, extremely eclectic little ensemble that had numerous dark tricks up their collective sleeve that they couldn't quite pull off musically. With Saturn Return they sound like a different band. Musically Unto Ashes have outdone themselves and exceeded any expectations their debut promised. Using a sophisticated blend of European folk musics, South American and African percussion, found texts and original lyrics, Unto Ashes drafts a Gothic underground music of elegance, seamless grace and dark passion. Here the sounds of Syd Barrett's solo recordings touch medieval courtly love music, Babylonian folk dances and the shimmer and swoon of rock viscera and dynamics. From lushly orchestrated and tightly woven sonnets by Petrarch to instrumental sequences on runes and Michael Laird's own finely honed words on "A Hymn To Pan," where lyrics are worthy of much more than praise. In the end, all you can do is praise this record for the sum of the assembled talent and its taste in selecting and recording its material. The voice of voices in Gothic rock -- Ericah Hagle -- carries off her share of the material with an aplomb not readily witnessed on the scene today. Finally, the band earns great merit for a sympathetic and moving cover of Coil's "Ostia (The Death of Pasolini)." This is the future of a music many thought was dead with the break up of Dead Can Dance and the Cocteaus. Based on the fine, gorgeously wrought pain and pleasure of Unto Ashes, things are just beginning to get interesting." (Thom Jurek, All Music Guide, August, 2001). ~~~~~~ Praise for "MOON OPPOSE MOON" - 4 Stars | "Walking the scorched landscapes of the heart proves to be more uplifting than it sounds. Instead of indulging the darkness of goth, Unto Ashes find the art and use the form to illuminate the poignancy of life's tragic truths. For those who doubt the longevity of goth, Moon Oppose Moon proves that the genre is as timeless as its sources of inspiration. The neo-folk elements provide a melancholy tenderness, while the medieval, classical and cinematic elements create an emotional undertow, melding the ancient and the modern melancholy tenderness, while the medieval, classical and cinematic elements create an emotional undertow, melding the ancient and the modern results in a hybrid netherworld of beauty and loss, like a grand work of poetry set to music written for a film. Michael Laird (collaborating at times with Natalia Lincoln and Paul Ash) writes songs that are equally subtle and complex. 'Der Letzte Ritter,' with German lyrics, is rich and compelling, reminiscent of Jurgen Knieper's powerful score for River's Edge. Simple tracks like 'This Duration of Emptiness,' however, best portray the scorched landscapes of the human heart. In any other context, deeply affecting lines like 'Our love was like a child that died' would seem melodramatic, macabre, or both. In goth, however, that's pretty much the point, and the tenor of the music provides affecting support. Moon Oppose Moon is a beautifully tempered and darkly shaded album that deserves to be brought out into the light." (Mark Burbey, Alternative Press).

Additional Info Contact booking@untoashes.com or info@untoashes.com

Location New York, NY - USA

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