Theophonos (ex-Serpent Column) and Profound Lore Records present Ashes In The Huron River—named in honor of the local woods and riverlands that continue to inspire this studio project. This record is an account of a life spent in the rotten heartlands of neoliberal capitalism and a tribute to the vibrant underground music cultures that thrived before the second half of the last decade.

Expanding on the directness of Nightmare Visions—also from this year, Ashes is grander in scope, and is internally regarded as a more focused analog to Serpent Column’s 2019’s Mirror In Darkness. Hafsteinn Vidar Ársælsson’s dark and intricate illustrations once again accompany the music with striking depictions of abandoned landscapes, arranged to invoke a sense of catastrophe and unwilling transformation.

Primary musical influences include Death Grips’ Jenny Death (which the record homages in its gradient-like structure, its centerpiece “Still You Haunt Me” even acting as a reimagined “On GP”), the downtuned hyperaggressions of Morbid Angel’s Gateways To Annihilation, and the cinematic, raw intimacies of Pelican’s The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw.

Contributions include reamping and additional mixing by longtime collaborator Maya Chun (of screamo prodigies Heavenly Blue and countless solo projects) in the frigid spaces of Detroit’s Telescope Vision Studio.