Germany's NIGHT IN GALES really need no special introduction to fans of the melodic Death metal movement in the mid-90's. The band has been a crucial part of that scene since 1996, releasing albums under labels such as Nuclear Blast, Massacre and Lifeforce Records throughout their career. In 2014 however, the band decided to release a compilation of 20 songs that were unattached to any one record label between 1996 and 2008.

The Divebomb Records collection, "Ashes & Ends" includes the very rare "Sylphlike" demo EP, their "Ten Years of Tragedy" EP which previously was only available digitally, 3 "Thunderbeast" demos, the "Promo MMVIII" demo, and covers of "Indians" by ANTHRAX and "Broken Vows" by "PENTAGRAM", all of which has been digitally re-mastered. I found myself enjoying this album within the first 10 seconds of the first song; it's fast, aggressive and quite technical, which this whole album thrives in almost every track! Aside from some of the vocals (since I'm not usually overly fond of Death Metal growls and screams); this album kept me entertained throughout most of it with their great sense of song structuring and their very admirable melodies,  riffs and grooves. I think that any fan of Death Metal will find this to make an excellent addition in their collection, especially since it is only limited to 500 copies! I must say though, the only disappointment for me was their cover of ANTHRAX's "Indians", the music was great, they nailed the instrumental work spot on and I was loving it! But my hope and excitement was crushed when the vocals came in; Death Metal vocals to my ear really do not suit ANTHRAX's music and I think it would've been a great cover if they used clean vocals, which I know they are capable of because they display great use of them in their PENTAGRAM cover! The only down side as a whole that I can really think of are the vocals and the length, but both are taken with a pinch of salt and don't affect my judgment because even though the vocals aren't particularly my cup of tea, Death Metal fans will love it! And the length is excused since it is a compilation, you just need a lot of free time to sit down and listen from start to finish.

Those put aside; I actually find this album to be quite a satisfying listen and a very successful album for NIGHT IN GALES!