Of Ash And Ember

‘Of Ash And Ember’ was written and recorded between the years of June 2019 and January 2025. Created as a musical tribute to celebrate the darker aspects of the ending of summer and the approaching golden hues of autumn. A time when rural life can be an exciting and abundant time. Where folklore, superstition and harvest festivals are celebrated with fire light and turnip lanterns carved with sinister faces. ‘Of Ash And Ember is one of only two Meresburg albums that fall somewhat into the Metal genre of music. Self described as – ‘Avant-Garde Esoteric Pagan Metal’.

Rural Inspiration

To think of a rural English summer nearing its end. Where the fire tinged colour of the sky is slowly starting to lose its vibrance. The bramble bushes almost fully ripened and the black berries nearing full crop. Fields of parched and pale wheat sway in a warm southerly breeze. It has been an unseasonably hot day. And by early evening bruised clouds are starting to gather on the horizon, threatening a storm. You spot a lone church perched upon a craggy hilltop. Its ancient grounds adorned by the stone memorials and graves of the long departed. Yew trees surround the church. The branches skeletal like and drooping towards the ground to create a cast of dancing shadows.

f Ash And Ember cover art by Julius Sergius von Klever
Of Ash And Ember cover art by Julius Sergius von Klever.

Artwork

I have always admired the art created by Richard Moult. Whether the medium be through his music or his evocative drawing. He creates an atmosphere that captures a dark, yet rural and rustic feeling reminding of the countryside. This imagery captured on the album by both Michael Morthwork & Richard Moult – The Man Whom The Trees Loved.

Upon searching for artwork of a similar nature. I came across a German Baltic landscape painter called Julius Sergius von Klever. He conjured up imagery that felt fitting for Of Ash And Ember.

Concept And Other Influences

For much of ‘Of Ash And Ember’. The theme running throughout the album is based upon rural superstitions and sinister traditions. Of which romanticizes the dark malevolence of the countryside . One such superstition is that of a faery species known as ‘The Ash And Ember’. Thought to have been cast down from the celestial heavens and fashioned from flame. To now be believed to inhabit the earth underneath. For whom can only be tempted to stay underground through ritual animal sacrifice. For blood is the only way they can be sated.

Musically, the artist called Nameless Therein. Whose album, Hex Haruspex and some of the early 1990s musical endeavours related to, or influenced by the Order Of Nine Angles. Such as River Redlake, stylistically inspired this album with their melancholic and emotional atmosphere.

Films such as Blood On Satans Claw, The Wickerman and zines such as Grimoire Silvanus and Hellbore, also impacted the themes running throughout this album.

Sheep skull in wood, taken 2024 in Derbyshire wood.
Sheep skull in wood, taken 2024 in Derbyshire wood.

Full Tracklist:

  1. The Closing Of A Sinistral Summer
  2. Where The Weeds Entwine To Feed Those Divine
  3. Of Ash And Ember
  4. Smoke And Heather
  5. Harvest Of Insidious Abundance
  6. Lure Of The Tainted Fungi
  7. Autumnal WindSwept Meadows
  8. Through Rural Domains Towards Astral Plains
  9. A Nexion Into The Dark Ages
  10. Mist Enshrouded Is The Marshland

Credits:

All lyrics and music written, recorded and produced by Meresburg 2019 – 2025. Album cover art by Julius Sergius von Klever . Logo created by Meresburg.