Gothic and Industrial music specialists
Unto Ashes : Pretty Haunted Things - CD Unto Ashes : Pretty Haunted Things - CD  Ref: 22205 * Includes their cover of Gary Numan's "My Dying Machine"

* Performing in June at Schauspielhaus Leipzig Germany as part of the Wave-Gotik-Treffen. Their fourth WGT appearance.

Unto Ashes conjures a stirring and captivating album, simultaneously beautiful and unsettling. Pretty haunted things — their eleventh Projekt release in a career stretching two decades — effortlessly spans the ages from a dark and medieval flair to modern apocalyptic gothic-folk. Recorded almost entirely in an octagonal Victorian parlor room, bewitched by centuries-old traditions, the songs of reflective solemnity are swathed in dramatic, soaring choruses executed by Ericah Hagle, Michael Laird, and Bret Helm (of Audra ).

The music harkens back to their groundbreaking debut, Moon Oppose Moon (1999): Unto Ashes has wrought music with an unusually broad array of diverse instruments, including hammered dulcimer, harmonium, autoharp, psaltery, viola da gamba, acoustic guitar, piano, and Arabic percussion. The songs are masterfully crafted by Laird, whose enchanting production is characterized by a gossamer of sonic treatments. The eerie, olden-skills Poppet dolls that adorn the covers seem to beckon the listener with binding spell of ensorcellment.

As is their custom, Unto Ashes' songs are unified in their explorations of love, loss, and life. There are moments of quiet reverie followed by epic revery. Ericah Hagle's “White Noise” presents a harrowing hospital farewell; the melancholic and exalted “I'm too high” reflects on a distant past; the mesmerizing “I'm living in a Coma” concerns a flat-lined relationship and could almost be classified as psychedelic music; “Letter from Choco to Melody” is a magnificent eulogy to a departed cat, and can also be seen as a testament to undying love; the descending melody and preternatural harmonies on “Don't ask Me if I'm crazy” are unforgettable. Strictly speaking, there is a love ballad on the album, although it is deceptively disguised as an anthem “For My Funeral”; some listeners have sworn that this is “the song” that must be played for them on “that day.”

Two songs are graced with words by 19th-century authors, namely Emily Bronte (“Fall Leaves Fall”) and E.A. Poe (“Alone”). Fans of Unto Ashes are well aware that the band has crafted many fine and completely original cover songs, of which we find at least ONE on each of all of their albums. On Pretty haunted Things Unto Ashes pay homage to one of their early heroes, Gary Numan , with a breathtaking cover version of “My Dying Machine” performed exclusively on Arabic and Oriental instruments.

The title of the album (taken from a line in “I'm too High”) obliquely references the pretty and haunted songs contained in it. Or is the band referring to the Poppet dolls, which are both pretty and haunted; or to people they either know or have not yet met? Regardless, Pretty haunted things might just be one of their finest conjurations to date.

Tracks : 01 I'm living in a Coma 02 Letter from Choco to Melody 03 Alone (EA Poe) 04 I'm too high 05 My Dying Machine (Gary Numan) 06 For My Funeral 07 Intertwined 08 White Noise 09 Not here 10 Don't ask Me if I'm crazy 11 Fall leaves Fall (Emily Bronte) 12 Hidden
main navigation menu
Gothic
Industrial
Home (New Releases)

best sellers menu
Raison D'etre : Darkened Obscurities - CD £13.95

Raison D'etre : Darkened Obscurities - CD
find out more


Mesh : The Point at which it falls apart 25th Anni £42.95

Mesh : The Point at which it falls apart 25th Anni
find out more


Lords of Acid : Beyond Booze (singles/best + remix £15.95

Lords of Acid : Beyond Booze (singles/best + remix
find out more


Krieg-B : War Drums’ Resonance - CD £15.95

Krieg-B : War Drums’ Resonance - CD
find out more


SPK : Information Overload Unit - CD £17.95

SPK : Information Overload Unit - CD
find out more


Darkness on Demand : Panic in Reserve - CD £13.95

Darkness on Demand : Panic in Reserve - CD
find out more


To Avoid : All Gods are Gone - 2xCD £22.95

To Avoid : All Gods are Gone - 2xCD
find out more


System : Autonomous System - 2xCD £14.95

System : Autonomous System - 2xCD
find out more


SPK : Leichenschrei  - CD £16.95

SPK : Leichenschrei  - CD
find out more


V/A : Progress Productions 20th Anniversary Compil £14.95

V/A : Progress Productions 20th Anniversary Compil
find out more


Cosmic Overdose : Final Koko - CD £13.95

Cosmic Overdose : Final Koko - CD
find out more


Blixa Bargeld and Teho Teardo : Christian & Mauro £14.95

Blixa Bargeld and Teho Teardo : Christian & Mauro
find out more


Mayflower Madame : Insight - CD £14.95

Mayflower Madame : Insight - CD
find out more


Mestre : All of You are so far - CD £14.95

Mestre : All of You are so far - CD
find out more


Pythies : Disillusion - CD £14.95

Pythies : Disillusion - CD
find out more


Allein in der Badewanne : S/T - CD £14.95

Allein in der Badewanne : S/T - CD
find out more


Zero Kama : What is a Body - CD £16.95

Zero Kama : What is a Body - CD
find out more


Near Earth Orbit : Divine Inferno - CD £13.95

Near Earth Orbit : Divine Inferno - CD
find out more


Beauty of Gemina : Songs of Homecoming - CD £17.95

Beauty of Gemina : Songs of Homecoming - CD
find out more


Ultra Sunn : Keep Your Eyes Peeled - CD £15.95

Ultra Sunn : Keep Your Eyes Peeled - CD
find out more