So, here’s the problem with having an email account specifically for The Black Metal Archives. You — by which I mean I — forget about it for months on end. Then, one day, a moment of inspiration hits, I log back in, and I’m greeted by a digital apocalypse: nearly 600 unread emails. Most are spam, some are… creatively threatening (cheers to whoever sent the “hail Satan or die” one), but buried in among the shite are a few genuine review requests.
And worse still, there’s one from a band that helped me get this whole bloody site up and running in the first place. That band is Ashen Pall, and I am, without question, an idiot for not checking my emails earlier. Sorry about that, lads.
Ashen Pall were one of the very first bands I ever reviewed when I started The Black Metal Archives. I’ve missed a couple of their records since then — my loss entirely — but luckily, I’ve only missed their latest EP, False Idol, Hollow Crown, by… oh, a casual two months. Still, better late than never, because this thing is absolutely worth the wait.
Ashen Pall have always had a knack for fusing genres without losing focus, and False Idol, Hollow Crown is no exception. It’s a filthy, glorious, soul-eating cocktail of Black, Death, and Doom Metal, all swirling together into something that feels both monstrous and refined. It’s like standing in the middle of a cathedral as it collapses around you — terrifying, beautiful, and weirdly comforting all at once.
The guitars sound like tectonic plates grinding against each other, churning out riffs that shift from glacial doom to razor-edged blackened tremolos without warning. The drums are a weapon — thunderous, relentless, and yet perfectly restrained when the mood demands it. You can tell this band understands space — when to let a riff breathe, when to tighten the noose. The result is a record that feels vast and suffocating at the same time.
The vocals are a particular highlight. Equal parts guttural and despairing, they sound like someone screaming into a pit that’s staring back. There’s genuine anguish in the performance, the kind that doesn’t feel performed or put on. This is the sound of insanity, perfectly balanced as your brain caves in on itself — a slow, deliberate collapse rendered in immense beats and screeching guitars..
Lyrically and thematically, there’s a weight here too. The title False Idol, Hollow Crown says it all: disillusionment, decay, the fall of gods and kings. It’s heavy stuff, but Ashen Pall handle it with intelligence and artistry. There’s no melodrama, just the cold, creeping truth of inevitability.
Production-wise, it hits the sweet spot — clear enough to let the details breathe, dirty enough to keep its soul intact. Every instrument has its space, but the overall sound remains as dense as fog rolling through a graveyard.
Ashen Pall haven’t just returned; they’ve evolved. This is mature, punishing, and utterly consuming.
False Idol, Hollow Crown is available now from the Ashen Pall Bandcamp page.
CHOICE CUT: Witches’ Grove
BLACK METAL BAND VERDICT: Ashen Pall return with a masterclass in controlled chaos — a towering blend of Black, Death, and Doom that crushes, mesmerises, and annihilates in equal measure. False Idol, Hollow Crown is proof that true darkness only gets sharper with age. Welcome back, you magnificent bastards.
