Bursting from the speakers like a steroid fed bullet from a gun is Meltdown the brand new album for Ireland’s premier punksters, Ash. Their fourth full-length album is another collection of perfect pop moments overlaid with screaming guitar. Meltdown features Ash really pushing it to 11 - loud, hard and devil-horn inducing. If you thought there couldn’t be a more perfect heavy power-pop record than Free All Angels then think again, Meltdown is Ash to the Max - the most perfectly formed album they’ve ever produced.
The title track kicks things off, three-and-a-half minutes of Ash gone Metal that whisks you on a thrilling journey into new sonic territory. It doesn’t stop there though, “Orpheus” is the new “Shining Light” featuring gorgeous harmonies from Charlotte and a riff to cut through granite whilst “Clones” is doom laden rock that at times flirts with the planet straddling dynamics of Metallica. Their fixation with Heavy Metal has long been documented, but for the first time Ash have taken their passion and bolted in to Tim Wheeler’s exceptional gift for classic pop songwriting.
Other highlights include “Evil Eye” which wouldn’t have been out of place on Auf Der Maur’s recent goth-metal masterpiece and “Starcrossed” a sweeping ballad that proves Ash can still ‘do’ tender. The album ends as strongly as it begins. “Detonator” manages to tame thunder in its explosive brilliance whilst “On a Wave” is menacing intensity that creeps up on you like a hard rocking stalker. Final track “Vampire Love” at times recalls Muse if they lost the histrionics and concentrated on the tunes, and rounds things off perfectly.
Meltdown has come along just at the right time. ‘Metal’ is the sound for 2004 and Ash have produced a metal album that is accessible enough for those whose closest contact with the genre is wearing a Motorhead t-shirt. That’s not to say that Meltdown is a ‘sell-out’, it’s anything but. Ash’s latest opus will be their most critically and commercially successful, pleasing the existing fans and opening the doors wide for a whole new wave of music lovers to experience Ireland’s finest export at the peak of their powers. There won’t be many better albums released in 2004.