There's not much here that hasn't been done before, but then that's usually not what side projects are all about. Sometimes when you're a musician in the songwriting vein you find yourself listening to a certain style of music often enough that you feel compelled to try your hand at it, and that's more or less what _Ashen_ feels like... not to take anything away from the songwriting, which is of consistently high quality. Again, though heavy (but not crunchy) guitars underscore each of the album's ten tracks, the primary emphasis is on catchy, almost radio-friendly melodies ("Last Summer" in particular definitely belongs in regular rotation on Hard Radio, or maybe one of the satellite metal stations). Expectations are key here: if you go into this record expecting something brutal or innovative, it's bound to leave you cold (and not in the emotionally chilly sense the band is going for); on the other hand, if you find yourself lamenting the fact that hooks have been largely absent from metal since the '80s, _Ashen_ is right up your alley.