EPK – Ashen Horde – The Harvest (2026)
Publicist – Jon Asher – jon[@]ashermediarelations[.]com
For fans of Opeth, Voivod, Enslaved, Ihsahn, Strapping Young Lad
Album Title: The Harvest
Release Date: May 1, 2026
Label: Self-Release
Genre: Extreme Metal
Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA
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“Antimony; 3/5 rating; “the sound Ashen Horde has developed over three albums is pretty much theirs alone. It’s a dense but accessible approach that rewards both casual listens and sustained attention.” – Angry Metal Guy (2023 – Antimony)
“Equal parts blackened madness, death metal riffing, and clean vocals, “The Neophyte” should get just about anyone stoked for Antimony.” – Metal Injection (2023 – Antimony)
“an amazing odyssey all around and the amount of remarkable coherency as well as the instrumentation work and musicianship is just top notch.” – Metal Purgatory (2023 – Antimony)
“Progression like what Ashen Horde has undergone over the years is what the best tales in the underground are made out of.” – Head-Banger Reviews (2023 – Antimony)
“Fallen Cathedrals; 4.0 rating; “I can’t recommend this enough for fans of black and death metals being combined in unique ways.” – Angry Metal Guy (2019 – Fallen Cathedrals)
[Download Album Cover | Download Album Lyrics]
Album Title: The Harvest
Release Date: May 1, 2026
Label: Self-Release
Genre: Extreme Metal
Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Track Listing:
1. Autumnal (6:12)
2. Entropy and Ecstasy (5:47)
3. Backward Momentum (5:21)
4. Voids in the Ash (5:41)
5. Remnant (4:37)
6. A Place in the Rot (4:38)
7. Apparition (4:57)
8. The Harvest (5:46)
Album Length: 43:03
Credits:
Mixed by Ricardo Borges and mastered by Tony Lindgren at Fascination Street Studios
Artwork by Venus Kohana (venuskohana.com)
Lineup:
Trevor Portz: Guitar, Bass, Harmony Vocals
Karl Chamberlain: Vocals
Robin Stone: Drums
Live Line-up:
Trevor Portz: Guitar
Karl Chamberlain: Vocals
Greg Murphy: Drums
Second guitar and bass: TBD
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About the album artwork:
The cover art was created by an extremely talented artist named Venus Kohana. I actually. discovered her work at an art show at my wife’s work. There were several pieces of hers that I loved, but the image of the two red skeletons really caught my attention. I bought a print of it at the show, and after staring at it for a few days, I realized I wanted it to be the cover art. Even the color scheme fits with the Autumn vibe. I tracked Venus down through Instagram and asked if she’d be down to license it to us. Luckily, she said yes, and I’m so happy about it. It’s unique and cool, and very metal; it even inspired the lyrics to the title track, which closes the album.
About the album as a whole (lyrically and musically):
Unlike the previous four albums, “The Harvest” is not a concept album; however, it does have an overarching theme: endings. For the first time in Ashen Horde’s history (at least when it comes to full-lengths), I didn’t have a single story | wanted to tell. But after I came up with a couple of different lyric ideas, I realized they had a connecting theme. “Entropy and Ecstasy” is about a couple who get a thrill from the tragedy and chaos all around.
“Autumnal” looks at old Pagan beliefs and ceremonies that came with the end of the harvest season; “Backward Momentum” focuses on the seemingly devolution happening across society. Each is rooted in a reaction to something ending, so we leaned on that for the rest of the songs. Karl wrote “Voids in the Ash” about the last days of Pompeii, which was certainly a dramatic end!
Track By Track (lyrically and musically):
1. Autumnal
The music for this song was inspired by Sensorio, an outdoor light installation in Paso Robles, CA. My wife and I were there for a mini vacation, and the overall vibe of the lights spread across the countryside triggered the idea for both the intro melody and lyrics, which are about old Pagan activities that came with the end of the harvest season and coming of Fall. The slow build from quiet to full-on black-metal blast beats seemed like a perfect way to kick off the album.
2) Entropy and Ecstasy
This song, which we chose as the first single and shot a video for, is about a couple who, instead of being terrified by the world collapsing around them, get a thrill from it. I don’t remember what initially sparked the idea, but it’s fair to assume the initial Covid lockdowns had something to do with it! I thought the music, which definitely takes some influence from Voivod, reflected both the chaos of the outside world and the bizarre passion of the couple. This was also the song Karl used for his “audition.” I sent him a demo with some unfinished lyrics, and he sent back his take on it. I was immediately blown away. His vocals on the core melody, “how can we thrive if we expect to survive?” give me chills every time I hear them.
3) Backward Momentum
This is a weird song with a lot of different things going on musically! There’s actually a fair bit of melody buried under some pretty unconventional riffs. There’s definitely Opeth inspiration, particularly using layered clean vocals over some fast blasting. This technique was used on the Lotus Eater from “Watershed,” and I thought the synergy of the extreme and melodic was just super effective. Then you get this riff-heavy, hard rock break in the middle that taps into my love of all things 90s. The extended solo here is probably my favorite on the album, and the one I worked on the hardest.
Lyrically, it’s my angry rant about people seemingly devolving and falling into superstitious and conspiratorial beliefs while ignoring science and rational thinking.
4) Voids in the Ash
Trevor: I wanted something a little more moody and slow, so that drove this song. I didn’t have any idea about what the vocals should sound like, so when Karl came back with this Soundgarden/Alice in Chains-esque melody for the verses, I realized he’d stumbled onto exactly what it needed. Yet again, the contrast of a dark melody with some unconventional riffs makes for a unique listen. Interestingly, the black-metal sounding blast beat parts were not originally intended to be fast, but Robin came up with the idea to go that direction, and the jarring jump from slow to fast was better than what I’d come up with, haha!
Karl: Voids in the Ash is a special track for me. The last one was written and recorded vocally for this record. The song is about Pompeii, told from the perspective of the people of Pompeii and the gods who hated them enough to bury them in ash.
5) Remnant
Trevor: I honestly don’t remember a lot about what inspired the music on this one, other than my love of trying different things. It’s not too fast or progressive, but has a lot of energy.
Karl: Remnant is about a man out hunting in the wilderness when a storm hits. His trail gets destroyed, and he hopelessly wanders until he finds salvation at a stranger’s cabin. He’s taken in, fed, and then the storm picks up again, destroys the cabin, and everybody dies. No happy ending.
6) A Place in the Rot
Trevor: We slow things down again here, and while it’s still heavy, the guitar parts are pretty melodic. The solo at the beginning was sort of an afterthought, but I think it works really well. I get the middle section stuck in my head a lot, which is hopefully an indicator that it’s cool.
The name of the song came from the Swamp Thing series; I’ve always been fascinated by how the Rot contrasts the Green (read the series for more info on what that means). But all I had was the title and no lyrics. I told Karl that’s where the name came from, and he replied, letting me know that he was a huge fan of the series and even had a Swamp Thing “Love and Death” tattoo! It further proved that he was the right choice for the band!
Karl: A Place in the Rot is about Swamp Thing and how our destiny is the soil. In the end, we all die, so live a good life!
7) The Apparition
This is probably the heaviest song on the album. The main riff was inspired by early death metal—basically all the stuff that got me into extreme metal in the first place. But in typical Ashen Horde fashion, that leads right into a strange little riff with an odd rhythm and vaguely 70s feel (at least, that’s how I see it).
The lyrics are sung from the perspective of a ghost who sees people doing truly horrible things, but who is helpless to do anything about it. He wonders if it’s punishment for things he did in life, yet doesn’t recall what he did. Thus. He’s slowly going insane in his eternal prison.
8) The Harvest
The music for this song was inspired by a trip I took to Iceland a few years ago. We were driving through the countryside, and the insane scenery: black beaches, glaciers, and an almost unearthly landscape, was just so awe-inspiring. I can’t explain exactly why it translated to these riffs, but it did! I didn’t realize it at the time, but I hear some definite influence from Demonaz’s album “March of the Norse.” Apparently, some subliminal inspiration crept in!
While I already knew I wanted to have a title track for the album, I wasn’t sure what the lyrics would be about. It wasn’t until I found the cover art that the idea finally came to light. Inspired by the red skeletons, I imagine an entity that’s watching humanity from the shadows, judging how awful and stupid we’ve become. At some point, when things have reached whatever the creature deems to be the absolute end of hope for humanity, it will emerge and devour everything. It’s really a metaphor for the bizarre tendency of humans to go out of their way to destroy themselves and the planet.
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Fun Facts:
1. Ashen Horde began as a solo project, and Trevor was the only member for the first two albums.
2. Until the filming of the Entropy and Ecstasy video, no two members of the band had ever played (or even mimed) together. The album was recorded completely remotely, with the members never meeting.
3. Obviously, based on the previous statement, the band has never played live! But for the first time since Ashen Horde’s inception in 2013, the band will play its first shows in May.
4. Karl was introduced to Trevor via George Washburn, host of the Metalheads Podcast. Both Trevor and Karl had been on the show at various times, so when Trevor was seeing a new vocalist, George suggested Karl.
5. This is the first Ashen Horde album that isn’t a true concept album. The previous four told (mostly) self-contained stories, but The Harvest is based on an overall theme instead; that being “endings.” We did something similar with the Tintregen EP back in 2019 (the theme there was “agony”), and I like having everything connect in some way.
Photos by @still.squill (Trevor); Photo Dun Right (Karl); unknown (Robin)
For over 10 years, Ashen Horde has been delivering extreme metal that strives to embrace a multitude of metal subgenres without being bound to any one of them. Drawing influence from metal’s crème de la extreme, Ashen Horde has a sound rooted in death and black metal, but can’t truly be called either. Touching on everything from melodic prog to 90s alternative, they’re sure to appeal to fans of prog metal’s elite, from Opeth and Enslaved to Amorphis and Ihsahn.
The band, fronted by guitarist and primary songwriter Trevor Portz, has just completed work on its fifth album, The Harvest. The first full-length to feature new vocalist Karl Chamberlain, The Harvest sees the band expanding on the sound they’ve been building over the last decade. Taking full advantage of Chamberlain’s expansive vocal range, they’ve created an album that is as melodic as it is heavy. From the Voivod-with-blastbeats energy of “Entropy and Ecstasy,” to “Apparition,” which interrupts its brutal death and black metal sections with progressive wanderings, The Harvest epitomizes Ashen Horde’s love of variety. “Voids in the Ash,” with lyrics that examine the fall of Pompeii, combines grunge-inspired harmony vocals with hyperspeed black metal bursts. It’s an album of sharp contrasts, but all through a tight, extreme metal filter.
Breaking tradition from its predecessors, The Harvest is not a concept album; however, the lyrics are linked together by a central theme. Each song explores an aspect of things ending… or approaching an end. Opening track “Autumnal” explores end-of-harvest-season pagan traditions, while “Backward Momentum” takes a look at humanity’s unnatural desire to revert to a more primitive state. It’s not an album about hopelessness, but it does ponder the question of whether endings really are new beginnings, as the saying goes.
Launched as a one-man project in 2013, Ashen Horde has released four critically-acclaimed albums, as well as several EPs and 7” singles. Ashen Horde’s 2019 album, Fallen Cathedrals, received a coveted 4/5 on Angry Metal Guy, with the reviewer stating, “I can’t recommend this enough for fans of black and death metals being combined in unique ways.” The band signed with Transcending Obscurity Records for 2023’s Antimony, which helped elevate the band’s status across the globe. Antimony also made Sick Drummer’s “Favorite Drumming Albums of 2023” list, praising the incredible work of acclaimed drummer Robin Stone.
2025 will also be a banner year for the band, as it will finally see them take to the stage. While the band has existed as a studio-only project previously, the new lineup is ready to bring their brand of chaos to audiences this fall, with tour dates in the works. While The Harvest may be about endings, the band sees this album as a new beginning.
Discography:
The Harvest (full length, 2026)
Decayed (EP, 2024)
Antimony (full length, 2023)
Black Curse (EP, 2021)
Archaic Convictions (single, 2021)
A Semblance of Normalcy (single, 2020)
Tintregen (EP, 2019)
Fallen Cathedrals (full length, 2019)
The Alchemist (7″, 2017)
Nine Plagues (full length, 2015)
Feral (EP, 2015)
Echthros (7″, 2015)
Obcisus (EP, 2014)
Sanguinum Vindicta (full length, 2014)
Ab Initio (EP, 2013)
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