(Dark Ambient, Industrial) New Risen Throne - Flowing Ashes - 2003, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

One should not ignore this dark ambient project by the Italian Gabriele Panci, despite it being named like a metal band, the album title being corny and the track names as over-familiar seeming as the cover art. Flowing Ashes happens to be a remarkably effective piece of work in all it's ordinariness. It's comfortably familiar dark ambient presented as three long tracks that differ distinctively from one another.
Everything in them has been essentially heard before - and in a stronger form - in the works of artists like Raison D'être, Caul or I.Corax. Yet the ideas have nevertheless been utilized in so unique a manner that the album has no trouble at all with standing on its own merits, and does not at all sound like a "copy". It also manages to avoid every typical pitfall of the scene, such as an overt feel of "stage performance" or sounding too computer-ish. One might say that it's nothing special in neither good nor bad sense, but that wouldn't really do it justice. It's actually a very good record that simply gets overshadowed by a bunch of even better albums that have been made in the same style. It practically flows with potential that makes me anxiously wish the artist would soon find some element that would make it personalized and unique. There are hints of it already present, especially in the use of murmuring voices in Ritual Over Ruins - even though it brings Megaptera and No Festival Of Light easily into mind.
New Risen Throne is a project one should keep in mind in the future, as it shows so much promise. And if one takes into account that Flowing Ashes costs - due to its publishing format - only half of what other records of similar quality go for (even if it does have a less appealing package), it has an excellent price/quality rating. It is a very good ambient album that may not necessarily be worth getting excited over, but which is a good addition to any mail order that happens to have extra room.
An impressive opening move that makes me want to hear a lot more material from the artist.