COLDNESS / IRAE We are the Ashes CD

The 2023 split album We Are The Ashes is a landmark collaboration between two pillars of the Portuguese black metal underground, Coldness and Irae, released by Nekrogoat Heresy Productions. This release is particularly significant as it reunites two iconic figures—Nocturnus Horrendus (the mastermind behind Coldness and Corpus Christii) and Vulturius (the force behind Irae and Morte Incandescente) nineteen years after their first split collaboration, Our Putrefacted Essence. Issued as a professional 6-panel CD digipak limited to 250 copies, the album captures both artists at a mature stage, delivering a raw, ritualistic, and unapologetic expression of Lusitanian black metal. The split is divided into eight tracks, with each band contributing four compositions that showcase their distinct yet complementary styles. Coldness opens the record with four untitled movements Untitled I, Untitled II, Untitled III, and Untitled IV which mark a return to the project's most aggressive and dissonant roots, blending refined rawness with a funeral-like, almost hysterical atmosphere. Following this sonic catharsis, Irae presents four tracks that further solidify Vulturius' status as a leader of the raw black metal movement. His side features Horizonte de Calamidades, Prosperando na Podridão, Numa Noite de Trevas e Álcool, and Entre os Escombros de Gigantes, characterized by fierce arrangements, tighter production, and the subtle use of synthesizers that add a surprising layer of depth to his traditional blackened assault.