ASHBORN - MEDUSA / SINGLE REVIEW.

ASHBORN - Medusa (...until I win)

Do you ever find yourself listening to a song a few times because it reflects your fucked up

mental state?

Medusa encapsulates the exact feeling of staring down a crazy bitch while five drinks in at a

dive bar on a Tuesday night. Is that niche enough for you? Hailing from Birmingham, four-piece groove metal band ASHBORN are keeping the local scene well-grounded with their derivative single that dropped in November 2025.

Keeping the intro tense with sustained chords ringing from low tuned guitars and drums which couple steady cymbals with pounding double kicks, keeping your head banging on beat, and eagerly waiting for the first vocal. But before we can be greeted with any lyrics, Ashborn switch it up with a fast, heavily, palm muted riff synchronised with the kick drum, and finally, the vocalist joins the organised chaos, delivering a gruff, raspy introduction to the namesake of the song Medusa, warning us of her ‘wrath, her deadly maze [and that] for every sin, you [will] turn to stone’. Reciting this warning well into the successive third and fourth verses. The production feels intentionally homemade, adding another layer of grit to an already brutal single.

Songs like Medusa THRIVE in a live environment, you need to be able to feel the blast beats

crack in your chest, headphones do not do this euphoric feeling justice. Where repetition is the kryptonite of the restless online consumer, bouncing the same lyrics back and forth to the audience is one of the best ways to build fan retention. While this may not be everyone’s cup of tea, I enjoy being able to anticipate the vocals and sing along.

Slipping into the chorus excitement begins to intensify, building the song's momentum with

every ‘it’s not over until I win’. The drums keeping the pace of the song well entwined with the lyrics. Drawing out every word. It makes the listener begin to wonder, is Medusa really the villain, or a metaphor for obsession? As we progress towards the back end of the song, we are left questioning ourselves. Is this really a warning shot to the listener, or a psychosis-induced conversation with the protagonist of this story? We feel them losing their mind, trying to endure in a world that is working against them.

Before a final fuck you warning shot to Medusa, like a sordid curse we are recited the chorus a final time. Ending just as it began, an outstretched guitar section and rapid drum beats

alongside a final growl. No conclusion, like a toxic cycle the song ends as it began, hurt and

aggressive.