Unto Ashes

Two years in the making, Grave Blessings is a virtual essay in pretentious darkwave music, exquisitely created, performed, and recorded. Once again, Unto Ashes' reveals their signature combination of sublime vocal harmonies and characteristically unorthodox instrumentation: hurdy-gurdy, dulcimers, cello, French horn, acoustic and electric guitars, and vast drums and percussion. Grave Blessings presents fourteen "offerings" to those who are loved, and to those who are lost. Including The Cure's venerable "The Drowning Man" (here performed on acoustic instruments), an Apocalyptic folk version of "The Way of the World" (written by the influential, now-defunct Punk band Flipper), "Four Loom Weaver," a rarely performed 19th-century Irish lament on starvation and finally a spectacular version of Qntal's "Fr�hling" in which instruments from three continents (Appalachian dulcimer, church organ, and dumbec) are impossibly employed.