ASHES dIVIDE, despite the odd spelling of band, is the debut project of Billy Howerdel, who founded or fronted A Perfect Circle and Tool, respectively. This project is more along the lines of A Perfect Circle — that is, heavy music that is more about dark, powerful feel rather than walls of guitars. And just like his previous work, Howerdel pushes all the right buttons with ASHES dIVIDE. This is music to close your eyes to and let pulse through your veins, and you don’t necessarily need augmentation from alcohol or some other recreational substance because the music will take you there on its own. A times, the songs do tend to run into each other, but as a whole, this is pretty strong work.
“The Stone” is the first single, and while that track is tailor made for active rock radio, you’ll find that material such as the pulsing rocker “Denial Waits” and the brooding, alt-tinged “Ritual” are more representative of the band’s overall sound. (LABEL: Island)
