REVIEW: From Ashes To New - Reflections

There’s a moment in every band’s trajectory where playing it safe becomes the bigger risk—and for FROM ASHES TO NEW, that moment arrives in Reflections. Instead of coasting on the momentum of Blackout, the Lancaster outfit tears everything down and rebuilds with sharper intent, leaning harder into the tension that has always defined their sound: melody versus aggression, control versus collapse.

From the outset, Drag Me wastes no time setting a bruising tone. It is immediate, volatile, and structured around the band’s now-signature push-pull between Matt Brandyberry’s rap-inflected delivery and Danny Case’s soaring hooks. That duality remains the backbone of the record, but here it feels more deliberate—less like a stylistic choice, more like a statement of identity.

Recent single Villain stands as one of the album’s most conceptually interesting cuts. Flipping the expected narrative, it leans into moral ambiguity, told from the perspective of the chaos rather than the victim. It is sleek, dark, and uncomfortably seductive—exactly where FROM ASHES TO NEW thrives. There is a maturity in how it handles its themes, resisting cliché in favour of something more psychologically honest.

Tracks like New Disease and Parasite dig into generational fatigue and identity erosion in the digital age, themes that FROM ASHES TO NEW have circled for years but sharpen here with more precision. New Disease in particular hits with a cynical edge, critiquing trend culture without sounding detached from it. It is angry, but self-aware.

Elsewhere, Black Hearts and Upside Down expand the emotional range of the album. The former leans into anthemic territory without losing its bite, while the latter balances vulnerability with a controlled intensity that never tips into melodrama. There is a noticeable effort to stretch beyond formula, even when the band returns to familiar structures.

(Not) Psycho injects a jolt of chaotic energy into the tracklist, embracing instability both sonically and thematically. It is one of the more unpredictable moments on the record, and it benefits from that lack of restraint. Meanwhile, Die for You and Forever explore obsession and devotion, walking the line between romanticism and self-destruction—a recurring motif that threads through much of Reflections.

The back half of the album carries surprising weight. Darkside and Your Ghost feel more introspective, almost haunted in their delivery, while Falling from Heaven closes things on a note that feels less like resolution and more like acceptance. It is a subtle but important distinction—the band is not offering answers, just reflection.

What makes Reflections land is not just its sonic consistency, but the decision to scrap and restart. That reset is audible. There is a sense of purpose running through all 12 tracks, a refusal to dilute their identity while still pushing outward. Matt Brandyberry’s vision of amplifying what the band does best is realised not through excess, but refinement.

If Blackout was a step toward evolution, Reflections is the moment it locks into place. It does not reinvent FROM ASHES TO NEW, but it does not need to. Instead, it sharpens their edges, deepens their themes, and solidifies their position in a genre that often struggles to balance accessibility with authenticity.

Score: 8/10

Reflections will be released on 17th April 2026 via Better Noise Music.

Words: Mia Gailey

Photos: Alex Bemis