Zal Cleminson shouldn’t require too much introduction to my readers. A veteran of the rock scene, he has a CV including The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Nazareth, Midge Ure, and many others. More recently, he co-founded heavy rock combo, Sin’Dogs, but left in 2019.
Orphans of the Ash is his latest project in collaboration with Billy McGonagle, his erstwhile bandmate, and the recording fruit of this is Ellipsis. There is a digital version on Bandcamp at https://orphansoftheash.bandcamp.com/album/ellipsis and now an upcoming vinyl release (and remastered digital version) on Fanfar! Records on 29th March. You can pre-order this by going to the website at https://en.fanfar.se/product/orphans-of-the-ash-ellipsis/
The project has been variously described as “Glasgow Grunge” (a fascinating descriptor which could probably be worth a whole narrative on its own), misanthropic metal, dystopian angst, and subconscious jazz. Cleminson handles the vocals on this, and keys. He and McGonagle share guitar and bass duties, whilst the latter is responsible for drum programming.
The vinyl has ten tracks to it, with the artist and label removing two from the CD and moving them to a digital version only. When you buy the record, you do get a download code, so buyers of the vinyl record will not miss out on anything.
Evolution Road kicks off proceedings and it hits you straight between the eyes, telling the preacher to fuck off home, throwing creation on a funeral pyre in a track which once upon a day would have attracted a media frenzy of faux moral outrage a la Ozzy Osbourne. Times have changed, indeed. The guitar which opens is pastoral, with some symphonic keys overlaying. The vocals are pensive before the main piece bursts into life, extremely vibrant. Right from the off, a special mention here to Jonas Sjöström for the re-master. It all sounds incredible. It is absolutely pumping, a classic of its kind with one hell of a lot going on.
Rat Neck follows. It is very grungy, with some fine drum programming, a strong lyric with menace in the words and voice in a track which I think carries with it more than a passing nod to late period Motorhead.
Psychodrama has a far more classic rock feel, the type of opening that you enjoyed in those heady days of yesteryear, with a rock god guitar and almost orchestral feel. The mix of the voices is excellent, and just over a minute out from the end of the track, there is a distinctly progressive feel in the notes. Very impressive.
Blind Machine is up next, with the protagonist pausing after the drama which preceded it, almost like a trench soldier returning after another failed and bloody advance to collapse exhausted to reflect on the stale death all around. There are very strongly dystopian noises and effects before a very grand guitar riff takes over the senses. Taken as a whole, this track has a very Southern American metal feel to it in parts, but also some industrial electronica, and herein lies one of the joys of this album, its wide-ranging sounds as opposed to a simplistic metal/grunge album. The guitar solo cries out, emotion wrung from every note, and the basslines at the end are exceptional.
The first side closes with Starship Babyboo, an early contender for “title of the year” on this website’s annual awards. Lyrically, I like the mix of the ancient and the futuristic, bathing in Babylon, but being first in line when the starships arrive. I believe that Cleminson is writing, or has written, a novel and I would read that, because there is a vast imagination going on here. There is a definite jazz undercurrent to this. Yes, there are crunching, and fine, riffs, prog metal synths, shades of classic 70’s rock, but it is a jam at its heart especially with the drum patterns underpinning the chords. Brooding and rather exceptional, the closing passage spacey with disturbed voice, this is a musical highlight of the year to these ears.
Side Two opens with Last Train Home, a track which lyrically is a fascinating story of a female who continually says no to the male, some extreme vulnerability coming across. Musically, a heavy boogie-woogie number, dirty and gritty in its impact, and decidedly angry in the “don’t you ever stop” passage.
Hammerhead is dark in its cold wind blowing, strung up like a dummy, bringing to the listener’s mind those killing fields, sadly a sight humankind is becoming familiar with once again in the 21st century. Cleminson plays the role of the tired warrior very well in an excellent dark metal track featuring some great riffs.
Poison Wood continues this death laden funereal tone, the effects mimicking very well the eponymous wood before the track explodes, some exceptional drum and percussion leading an industrial charge which races along at a cracking pace, a track oozing and fizzing with fearful energy.
Ten Years Screaming is the penultimate vinyl track, the soul sold to Lucifer, that turbulent master mining for souls. This is an expansive piece, even in the more subdued moments, and I like the toned down screaming vocal effects at the end.
The record closes with Jour D’Armageddon – Day Of Armageddon, the longest track here just shy of eight minutes long. Lyrically fascinating, referencing the Charlie Hebdo killing, killing time for the human race, justifying extreme violence in the name of liberty and reason, and this is intelligently done, because, of course, France itself was the cradle of the revolutionary age of anti-monarchical and religious reason, something which itself descended into a bloodbath, so many innocents slaughtered in the name of freedom. The classic film narration introduces us to a glorious noise. There are some pulsating riffs on this, the vocals absolutely spot on in their “justification” of violence, sardonic and questing. There is a clear punk sensibility (alongside some passages referencing The Wall Floyd), an attitude which seeps into every pore of the listener, grandiose and epic in its intention and execution, it really is bloody brilliant. The comedown from the violence with its strange noises is very clever at the end. An audio video is embedded below for you to enjoy.
The two digital tracks not included on the album are Jesus Strange and closer on the digital album, So I Die. The former is an interesting dark play on Christian ritual and is quite an introverted track with some very good bluesy guitar chords and a nice melodic bassline. So I Die is clearly designed as the comedown from the chaos of violence which preceded it and references the relief at the presence of a loved one, calming and reassuring.
Ellipsis deserves praise and attention. This duo has created a very strong album which I think will appeal to metal and prog heads alike. Very highly recommended.