Ashes You Leave

Ashes You Leave is a gothic doom metal band from Rijeka, Croatia The band was formed back in 1995, when a few young doom metal fanatics decided to form what later became the biggest Croatian metal band of all times, Ashes You Leave. After recording two demos, Ashes You Leave attracted attention from record labels and decided to sign for Morbid Records from Germany, a deal that led to release of their debut album "The Passage Back to Life". Although seemingly an opus dedicated to their childhood heroes like My Dying Bride, this album is considered by many as a jewel of classic doom metal.

The band was formed back in 1995, when a few young doom metal fanatics decided to form what later became the biggest Croatian metal band of all times, Ashes You Leave. After recording two demos, Ashes You Leave attracted attention from record labels and decided to sign for Morbid Records from Germany, a deal that led to release of their debut album "The Passage Back to Life". Although seemingly an opus dedicated to their childhood heroes like My Dying Bride, this album is considered by many as a jewel of classic doom metal.

Since they were full of ideas and energy it took them only a year to release the second album "Desperate Existence", a clear step forward from their doom metal roots and a release widely considered as their darkest ever. Already having established a huge fan base throughout world, the band had great expectations from their 3rd album "The Inheritance of Sin and Shame" and it proved to be a milestone in their career. Not only did it outsell its predecessors and sweep reviewers off their feet, it also gave the band their first taste of foreign stages as they embarked on their virgin European tour. Finally fans had a chance to witness the band live: most of them were surprised by the ferocity and heaviness of their performance.

After the release of "The Inheritance of Sin and Shame" AYL faced a potentially huge problem - their long time singer Dunja was unable to be a part of the band anymore, so they started a search for a new singer. They were fortunate in finding Marina, a young and extremely talented singer. She was a member of the elite Croatian female choir Putokazi and settled nicely into the band. Many waited passionately to hear the new voice of AYL and were stunned when "Fire" was released. There was hardly a person who heard "Fire" and didn't rank Marina among the top female singers of the genre. The big success of the album opened some new opportunities for the band and AYL have finally stepped on some of the biggest stages in the Europe, performing on festivals like Summer Breeze (with Dimmu Borgir and Paradise Lost), Metal Female Voices (with Nightwish and Epica) or Wave Gothic Treffen (with Moonspell and My Dying Bride). Their performance on Wave Gothic Treffen is widely recognized as one of the best gothic metal performances in years and they ended as the only metal band beside Moonspell who had to play an encore because of fans' demands.

The release of "Fire" meant the end of one part of AYL's career. It became clear that Morbid records, firmly stucked into death metal scene, could no longer be a home for AYL. Therefore the band decided not to renew their contract but rather search for a new label. After 4 years of songwriting AYL were ready to record their 5th album. Before they started recording, the band took one rather hard and painful hit: lead singer Marina decided to pursue her singing education abroad and left the band with no option but to quickly find a replacement for her. Luckily it took them virtually no time at all to discover the18 year old Tamara and offer a place as a member of the band. With the line up completed, Ashes You Leave entered the studio in March 2006. The new album is now finished and is scheduled for release in 2009.

Their MySpace: www.myspace.com/ashesyouleaveband

Members are:
Marta - violin
Matija - guitars
Berislav- guitars, vocals
Tamara - vocals and keyboards
Luka - bass
Insanus - drums

Previous members:
Dunja Radetic - vocals, flutes
Vladimir Krstulja - vocals, keyboards
Loris Pomazan- bas,guitars,vocals
Kristijan Milic - bass
Gordan Cencic - drums
Vanja Tornato - bass
Neven Mendrila - guitar
Damir Cencic - keyboards
Marina Zrilic - vocals
Domagoj Galin - bass