In the heavy silence between Syracuse’s metallic past and what’s still to come, Ashen Skies doesn’t so much arrive as it looms. AZSHARA’s debut EP feels like an inheritance passed through blood-soaked soil—darker, heavier, and more cinematic than most would dare on a first outing. But this isn’t a first draft. The bones of AZSHARA stretch back to 2018, riffs written and left smoldering until the scene sparked back up. The Prayer For Cleansing reunion in 2022, followed by the Ephyra surge in early 2023, pulled those embers into something viable. Something ready to burn.
Formed officially in 2023, the band put out a demo through Ephyra that fall—later remixed and re-released on DAZE—before locking in their true introduction with Ashen Skies, released March 21.
Tracked with Chaz Torok at The Source in New Haven (home to sessions by balmora and wreckage), the record delivers a mournful but punishing strain of blackened metalcore—equal parts suffocation and scope.
The lineup is: Collin Flynn (vocals), Paul Lares and Nate Martin (guitars), Victor Runeare (bass), and David Tellez (drums). For a band this young, they sound unnervingly certain.
“Thorns,” the EP’s blistering single featuring kidnapped’s Dan Violence, frames that sound with menace: unrelenting riffwork, vocals spitting venom, and a thread of melody that survives just long enough to haunt. There’s no metaphoric distancing here—the chalice of regret isn’t poetic. It’s personal. The rawness isn’t performative either. Songs like “To Bring About Our End” and “Ashen Skies” are rooted in real collapse: time wasted, people lost, lives unraveling under their own weight.
The sonic palette pulls from Dissection, Undying, and that short-lived but unforgettable era of early 2000s midwest metalcore. But it’s not all just nods and nostalgia. There’s a clear narrative voice behind these tracks, even if the band avoids unpacking it too far. “Soulbound,” for instance, is loosely inspired by Dark Souls, while other songs channel grief, distance, and what it means to build identity through what’s been broken.
That clarity might have something to do with the band’s relationship to DAZE. Collin also plays in Balmora alongside lumpy, who was quick to back AZSHARA early on. What could have been a cold pitch ended up more like family. Same goes for the artwork—Dom Pabon (final resting place, simulakra) captured the bleak elegance the band wanted, drawing on Peaceville aesthetics and early 2000s visual language. No overdesign, no posturing. Just tension and shadow.
With the EP out, AZSHARA are joining the DAZE U.S. tour this April alongside torture, balmora, sanction, and final resting place. They’ve got their eyes on Salt Lake City, Vegas, LA, and Denton, ready to carry Syracuse’s metalcore history further down the line. They don’t claim to be redefining anything—they just want you to dance through the sorrow.
The band talked with us about grief, wasted time, artistic choices, and staying present while everything burns. The band might not be the most talkative bunch—let’s just say their music speaks louder than their words—but we still managed to squeeze out a few gems.
Full interview below.
So, you all came together in 2023, but I imagine the roots of this band stretch further back. What was the moment when AZSHARA really became AZSHARA? Was there a particular song, riff, or late-night conversation that set everything in motion?
I’ve been sitting on some riffs and ideas since around 2018–2019 but couldn’t really find enough people who wanted to do a band in that style until the Prayer For Cleansing reunion in 2022 and the Ephyra boom in early 2023.
The sound you’ve carved out is both raw and cinematic, balancing the brutality of metalcore with blackened atmospherics. What pushed you toward this darker, more forlorn direction? Was there a particular moment, album, or life experience that made you want to explore this kind of bleak intensity?
I’ve always been more interested in the darker side of metal/metalcore like early Black Dahlia Murder, Dissection, and some of the Midwest metalcore bands from the early 2000s.
When people talk about blackened metalcore, they throw around comparisons like DISSECTION and UNDYING, but if you had to pick an influence that would surprise people, what would it be? Something outside of the usual metal and hardcore references.
I don’t think we have any influences that would surprise people.
DAZE has been a solid home for a lot of heavy bands lately. How did your connection with them come about? Did you already know folks from the label, or was it one of those “right place, right time” situations?
I also play guitar in Balmora which lumpy plays bass in and he was supportive since the beginning and asked if we wanted to put the EP out on DAZE.
There’s a cinematic, almost storytelling quality to a lot of your lyrics. “Soulbound,” for example, feels like the final chapter of something ancient and tragic. Do you pull from literature, film, or folklore when writing, or is it more of a direct emotional purge?
I don’t wanna get too into lyrical meanings or whatever, but I’ll say this one is partially inspired by a character from Dark Souls.
“Thorns” is unrelenting—vicious, desperate, but melodic in a way that lingers. What’s the story behind that track? The line “sip from the chalice of regret” feels like a dagger. Who or what inspired the venom behind this one?
Someone I used to be very close with.
“To Bring About Our End” opens the EP with this suffocating sense of inevitability. The imagery—moonlight on a bloodstained burial shroud, blackened sand in the hourglass—paints a picture of time slipping through your fingers. Is this song a personal reflection, or does it pull from something larger, maybe something mythological?
Yeah you explained it pretty well, just a general feeling of life being wasted.
“Ashen Skies” has this tragic beauty to it, both in the lyrics and the sheer weight of the music. The imagery of self-destruction and loss is heavy. What was the emotional headspace when writing this? Did it start as a story or something more personal?
This was the first song we wrote for the EP before we really knew what direction to go with, so we kinda based the vibes of the other songs off this one. And lyrically at the time i was listening to bands like my dying bride and agalloch.
The EP artwork feels like an extension of the music—stark, ominous, but strangely elegant. Who did the artwork, and what was the vision behind it? Did you give them any particular direction, or did they just get the vibe right away?
The artwork was done by Dom Pabon(Final Resting Place, Simulakra, Crush your Soul.) We wanted to capture the vibes of early 2000s metalcore and some Peaceville bands.
If this EP were a message in a bottle, drifting into the future, what do you hope people 10, 20 years from now take away from Ashen Skies?
I hope they dance to it
Syracuse has a long history with hardcore and metal. How do you feel AZSHARA fits into that lineage? Is there a particular energy in your local scene that shaped the way you approach your music? Where were you when HELLFEST were shaking up Syracuse?
Syracuse’s claim to fame is metallic hardcore and we’re trying to add on to that legacy. I was in diapers when Hellfest was at its peak.
Any bands from your area or beyond that you think deserve more eyes and ears on them? Who were your favorite discoveries from 2024 and early 2025?
From syracuse: All 4 all, Street Hassle, Deal with God, Fatal Consequences, X-threat, Wasting Away, Nature Unveiled. From beyond: Discontent, Cross of Disbelief, Machines of Hate, Watch you Fall, The Test Dream, Holder, Two Winters Only, Razel Got Her Wings, Seasons End, Unmoved.
This tour with TORTURE, BALMORA, SANCTION, and FINAL RESTING PLACE is stacked. Which city are you most hyped to hit? Are there any spots on the route where you’ve never played but always wanted to?
Hyped for Salt Lake City, Vegas, LA, and Denton.
You’re on the road soon, new EP on the way—what’s next? Is AZSHARA a band that lives in the moment, or do you already have long-term visions for where you want to take this?
Just kinda living in the moment.
