Nine years after forming ASHES OF ARES, Barlow and Vidales return with an LP that sees the duo take the darkness and aggression from their previous effort, “Well Of Souls”, to a higher echelon. The writing process began almost immediately after “Well Of Souls” was released. As usual, it was a true collaborative effort between the two, with ideas originating from one or the other, then evolving and being refined to what is presented on “Emperors And Fools”. The album flow is designed to keep the listeners on edge while bringing them from fast, heavy, pounding anthems to somber, melancholic, emotional pieces. The album ends with the eleven-minute long epic “Monster’s Lament” which features the long-imagined joining of forces between Barlow and another former ICED EARTH singer, Tim “Ripper” Owens.

“Emperors And Fools” will be released as a digipak CD, limited turquoise/black splatter vinyl (300 copies worldwide), limited red/black splatter vinyl (300 copies worldwide) and digital streaming and download format.

“Emperors And Fools” was produced by ASHES OF ARES, and mixed and mastered by Byron Filson at Villain Recording in Phoenix, Arizona. The cover artwork was created by Kamil Pietruczynik.

Track listing:

01. A City In Decay (intro)
02. I Am The Night
03. Our Last Sunrise
04. Primed
05. Where God Fears To Go
06. Emperors And Fools
07. By My Blade
08. What Tomorrow Will Bring
09. The Iron Throne
10. Gone
11. Throne Of Iniquity (CD-exclusive track)
12. Monster’s Lament

ASHES OF ARES is:

Matt Barlow – Vocals
Freddie Vidales – Guitars, Bass

Guests:

* Drums on all tracks by Van Williams
* Keyboard intro composed by Jonah Weingarten
* First solo “The Iron Throne” by Wiley Arnett of SACRED REICH
* Second solo “The Iron Throne” by Charlie Mark
* Second solo “Monster’s Lament” by Bill Hudson
* Guest vocals “Monster’s Lament” by Tim “Ripper” Owens
* Keyboards “Monster’s Lament” by Brian Trainor