The Ascent - Where are your heroes now? (2009)

http://www.myspace.com/theascentau

I don't know much about The Ascent. I have seen them play live and I was fairly impressed, the one song I had heard recorded before picking up their EP "Where are your heroes now?" was "Insomnia" off the Opertation Metal Storm" Compilation CD by IGI and I liked it. I guess I had some fairly high expectations and found myself disappointed when I discovered that that song didn't appear on this EP, and I realised that it is a new track and the EP is older material. Thus, before I start I should clarify that they seem to have moved on to far better things since this EP was released in the long ago time of 2009AD. That said, we have a CD to review.


OK, to business. This is one of those CDs you gotta listen to a fair few times to get a grasp of it, it took me a half dozen listens for sure, and I have concluded that two different approaches need to be taken to review it:

1.] Let's assume this EP is - as it seems to be - meant to be a demo quality product only. In this case there is a lot to be happy about. Although Ascent haven't really broken any new ground here, they have written some pretty good songs on this EP. They throw in suprises here and there, like a sudden flurry of blasting or some well structured vocal harmonising, and they seem to be fond of changes, incorperating any number of them into their songs. The vocals are inventive and show a great deal of variation, they are the best part of the album no question. Chris the vocallist seems to be a fan of a great many vocal styles, because he can sing clean, heavy and then deliver a really harsh black metal tone, good as anyone in the city at times. There are some great bits here and there, "the Eighth Plague" has moments when the songwriting shines, and the song seems to finish weakly but it is a false ending and there is a heavy as fuck outro. "On this Blade" has a big death group vocal chorous type of deal that sounded really ballsy, slow and fat as Hell. Yeah, not too bad at all for a demo.

2.] If we were to assume this EP to be like a real studio album, then I am distressed to say that it sounds substandard. The overall mix is shakey in parts, certainly the drums overpower the rest of the music slightly. That wouldn't be a problem if the drums were really brilliant, but the drum mix is unrefined and the snares sound uneven, I even hear some ghastly sloppy timing. And its not just Travis on the drums who is alone here. There are sloppy moments thoughout by everone except possibly Less on the bass, who seems to be right on the money. Hey, we all have sloppy moments, and that is where the studio and the budget come into play, you can polish the turd til it shines if you want - how else can you explain bands like Limp Bizkit? - and those little tweeks and touchups can make all the difference, but for whatever reason The Ascent have chosen not to do so, and at their peril. Mixing correctly turns the crap into the credible, but the door swings both ways.

And The Ascent aren't alone in this, I made the same mistake with my bands' first album and one reviewer let us have it.

Whether it is a great demo EP or a low bugdet release, there IS some real potential here. When the Ascent go for heavy, they sound really good. They really can belt out the aggression with the big boys, it is just a shame that they don't stay on that course, because when do stray they seem to just wander in a daydream playing some uncomfortable passages, in particular the dischordant guitar harmonies in "From the Ashes", which had me cringing. Maybe I simply don't understand what it is they are trying to do, but I reckon that they need to listen to this EP, learn from it and do their homework. I suspect that they HAVE in fact, because if the new song I have heard is typical of their new material, they have improved 300%. A bit of seasoning and there is a lot of promise to the boys from The Ascent, and I have faith in them to show us all.

Review by Jez.