REVIEW: Red Skies Dawning – ‘From Ashes’

With their hotly-tipped new offering ‘From Ashes’, Red Skies Dawning crash through the door like a force of nature, carving out a space in the alt-metal landscape with a debut EP that’s as emotionally volatile as it is meticulously crafted. Across six tightly wound tracks, the Maryland outfit transform personal upheaval into something vast and cinematic, proving they’re here to detonate.

From the first moments, it’s clear this is a band chasing truth with bare hands. Frontman Chris Aleshire delivers his lines with a gripping mix of grit and fragility, shaping each song like a confession hurled into the wind. His delivery feels less like the sound of someone revisiting the wreckage of their life and finding new structure within it.

The collection’s standout ‘Shipwrecked’ encapsulates everything that makes this debut hit with such force. Aleshire sounds like a man battling both the sea and himself as waves of guitars crash under him, textured and towering. The chorus hits with an almost tidal pull, designed to swallow stadiums whole.

Elsewhere, the band flexes range without abandoning their core intensity. ‘Dangerous’ stomps with muscular precision, guided by Wyatt Carpenter’s pounding rhythms, while ‘Where You Been?’ crackles with the urgency of long-held truths finally surfacing. The Michaels, Laulis and Trujillo, weave riffs and low-end sculpting that feel jagged yet deliberate, heavy but never hollow.

There’s a unifying spirit running through the entire release: a willingness to confront the fractures we hide from, and the courage required to rebuild from ground zero. Every track feels like a chapter in the same volatile journal, written during a time when the only way out was through.

‘From Ashes’ is a debut EP that burns bright and leaves scorch marks, offering a loud, cathartic statement from a band ready to claim their place among modern heavyweights. Red Skies Dawning are ascending with teeth bared, heart exposed, and a sound built to shake the foundations.