EMQs with – Ashen Horde
EMQs with – Ashen Horde
Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs, this time with USA Extreme Metallers, Ashen Horde. Huge thanks to their Guitarist, Trevor Portz, for taking part.
What is your name, what do you play and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
My name is Trevor Portz, and I’m the guitarist, occasional bassist, background vocalist and primary songwriter for Ashen Horde.
This band has been around since 2013, when I launched it as a solo studio project. I wanted to get back into extreme metal, which I had stepped away from for a few years. The idea was to write songs that were rooted in black and death metal, but didn’t conform to a specific genre.
The first two albums were done as a one-man-band, but that all changed when vocalist Stevie Boiser (Inferi, Equipoise) joined in 2016 (following surgery on my vocal cords, which ended my harsh vocal career, haha). Since then, Ashen Horde has grown to be a full band, and we’ve released five albums (including our new album, The Harvest), as well as several EPs and singles.
How did you come up with your band name?
The name came to me when I was riding the subway in NYC. I don’t remember exactly what triggered it—whether I saw something that inspired it, or it just came to me magically—but I thought it was cool. There was no wifi on the subway at that point, so I remember being super anxious to get to my stop so I could Google whether or not it was already taken! Luckily it wasn’t, and that was that!
What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?
I currently live in Los Angeles, CA, but was born in London, grew up in Denver, CO, and spent a decade in Brooklyn, NY. The scene in LA is weird, because it’s such a huge city, and there are so many musicians just trying to make it (or make it big). On the plus side, we get a lot of great tours-even bands that only play a couple US shows will typically play here. But it’s difficult for smaller bands to book shows, so I feel like the local scene isn’t as tight as it is in other cities. To be fair, since both of my bands are based elsewhere, I haven’t gotten as deep into the local scene as I otherwise may have. But there are plenty of great bands here, for sure.
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)
Our fifth album, “The Harvest”, is out May 1, 2026. This is our first full-length with our new vocalist, Karl Chamberlain, and is a culmination of everything we’ve done thus far, but with some new twists and turns. There are certainly plenty of technical death metal parts and epic, blast-beat driven black metal sections, but we also incorporate aspects of everything from thrash to ’90s alternative. It’s a challenging album, for sure, but hopefully offers something interesting for fans of extreme metal who don’t mind things that aren’t genre-pure.
We shot a really cool video for the first single, “Entropy and Ecstasy” with Hunter Lamar/Digital Myle, who’s also done a couple vids for my band Abhoria (as well as many metal greats, from Allegaeon to Job for a Cowboy.) “Voids in the Ash” was the second single—it’s a cool mix of doomy riffs with Alice in Chains-esque vocals, and blasty black metal riffs.
Who have been your greatest influences?
Some of my influences are probably pretty obvious to listeners: Enslaved, Ihsahn, Devin Townsend and Opeth come to mind. I love dissonance and jazz-influenced, proggy chords! But I also draw from less obvious places. The UK band the Wildhearts are a huge influence on me. It may not be apparent stylistically, but the way they blend different genres and don’t feel constrained by any specific style has driven my approach to a lot of Ashen Horde’s material. Both Karl and I are big fans of bands like Soundgarden and Alice In Chains, too, and we draw inspiration from those bands, especially when it comes to clean vocal parts. Andy Summers and Billy Duffy are also big guitar influences for me.
What first got you into music?
I was exposed to music from a very young age. My parents always had music on, and I was obsessed as far back as I remember. Queen’s “The Game” album, as well as Stray Cats’ “Built for Speed” were some of my earliest faves.
Like so many musicians, discovering Kiss changed my life. Wildly enough, watching a recording of “Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park [aka, “Attack of the Phantoms”] was my first exposure to them. Despite being a pretty ridiculous movie, I was hooked! At that point, I started writing my own songs (well, lyrics—I didn’t play an instrument yet), and really never stopped.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
So many people come to mind! But top of my list would likely be Ihsahn. I got into his work through Emperor—they were one of the most important bands for me when I first discovered black metal—but his more recent solo albums have blown me away. His writing seems to be catered exactly to my tastes, so l’d love to work with him in some fashion, even if he were just to provide some producer-like input!
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
I mean, Wacken is the ultimate dream. Not only would we play to thousands and thousands of obsessed metal fans, but being surrounded by bands I love from across the rock and metal spectrum would be insane! It’s not unrealistic to imagine everyone from Voivod and Therapy? to Satyricon and Masterplan being on that bill, so no matter what the line up, it would be a proper dream come true. That said, I’d gladly hop on any of the biggies—from Hellfest to Download—even if it meant playing at noon by the restrooms.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
l’ve never really received anything weird… for me, just having someone come up at a show, having already been a fan, is weird enough. I just expect no one to know who l am!
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
First off, just a big thanks for continuing to—or just starting to—support us! I promise that every single merch order, download and positive message on socials means the world to all of us. So I guess the message would be… tell all your friends!
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
This one is really tough, but for me, I think it would have to be Steve Clark from Def Leppard. He’s the reason I sling my guitar low (far too low for technical metal, for sure). l’ve continued to follow DL since his passing, and there’s plenty to like, but the first four records are perfect. I miss his writing!
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
Writing music is about the purest form of joy I know. The urge to create is real, and I’m happy to indulge it. I just try to write songs that strike an emotional chord (ha) for me, but it’s truly amazing when other people feel it, too.
The worst part? Dealing with the modern music landscape. The algorithms on socials have killed everything. I can’t even get the word about new music out to existing fans, let alone new people who may be into it. It feels like a fruitless (and expensive) battle, and I hate it.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
Social media. I’d take it back to what it was designed for: keeping on top of people and things you care about. That way, my feed would be nothing but updates on family, friends and bands I love, not endless ads for things I don’t care about. Just because I hovered for 2 seconds on an ad for deodorant doesn’t mean I have some sort of armpit fetish!
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
There are SO MANY… but since I have to choose one, I’ll go with one that I was just listening to: Queensyche’s “Empire”.
I know people consider “Operation: Mindcrime” to be their pinnacle, and it’s certainly a stellar album, but “Empire” is nearly perfect, IMO. The production is so good—it’s hard to believe that record is almost 40 years old! I think the songwriting is just so great—the use of interesting chords (beyond just power chords), coupled with well-crafted melodies, Geoff’s insane vocals, and Scott’s drumming (Steward Copeland-esque in its musicality) make for a staggering album. There’s a melody at the end of the solo in “One and Only” that gives me chills every time I hear it.
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?
I’m a cd guy for sure. I insist on buying everything on cd, and that makes up the largest part of my collection. Perfect sound, easy to import into my phone (I mean, come on, I can have my whole library with me everywhere I go)… and maybe a bit of nostalgia since it’s the format I was into when I started collecting.
That said, I also have a huge vinyl collection, and thus typically get the cd and vinyl copy of every new album… sometimes even the cassette, because I’m just that guy.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
Since Ashen Horde hasn’t played live as of this writing (our first show is just over two weeks away), I’ll have to say it was Abhoria’s show in San Luis Obispo in 2024. It was close to the end of the Depths tour, so we were a well-oiled machine, and the energy was just so amazing. People were going nuts, and you can’t help but feed off that.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
Well, considering that this is not my full-time job, I guess the answer is “work a corporate job,” which I do! But if I were independently wealthy? I’d spend a ton of time traveling the world. My wife and I travel a lot as it is, but we’d kick it up several notches. There are just so many amazing places I’d like to see! In between that, I’d listen to a ton of music, and just try to enjoy every day.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
Ginger Wildheart, since he’s my songwriting hero; Brian Setzer, because he was my first favorite rock star; Ivar Bjornson, since his music changed the course of my musical life; Kai Hansen, because he seems to love being a musician more than anyone on the planet; and Paul Stanley, because he’s Paul Stanley.
What’s next for the band?
We have all sorts of things in the works! Greg just finished tracking drums for two new EPs, so we’ll be wrapping those up this summer. The next album is written, and rhythms have been tracked, so we’ll be working on that in the fall. Of course, we’ll be figuring out the next run of shows as well!
What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
http://ashenhorde.bandcamp.com
Insta: @ashenhorde
http://facebook.com/ashenhorde
Time for a very British question now. As an alternative to the humble sandwich, is the correct name for a round piece of bread common in the UK either a Bap, a Barm (or Barm Cake), a Batch, a Bun, a Cob, a Muffin, a Roll, or a Tea Cake?
Oddly enough, I was born in London, but moved to the states when I was two, so I can’t give a properly British answer. That said, “bap” is the word I’d use! It’s both the one I’m most familiar with for what you described, and it makes me laugh for some reason.
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
That’s it! Thanks for having me, and I hope The Harvest finds its way to the right ears! Cheers!
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