Ascension have taken the long way round from their beginnings in 2004 with only one original member remaining but they’ve never veered from the path of pure power metal. Having gigged extensively in previous years, 2008 has been a time of change with a whole new rhythm section being drafted in, David Wood playing bass since Spring and in September, Dick Gilchrist took over as the band’s pure metal drummer.
Power metal can be hit & miss if like myself you’re not a big listener of the genre, the good can be great but the bad can leave you wondering why anyone has the audacity to label it as music. Ascension instantly fall into the category of good power metal band as soon as Fraser Edwards and founding member Stuart Docherty plug in and stretch their fingers with almost faultless technical skill & speed. It’s the shredding guitars that drive Ascension into my head, each constantly playing off against the other. Any reckless tendencies are ably kept in check by the duality of the thrashing blur on drums and the calm-in-a-storm posturing of the solid bass. Vocalist Richard Carnie leads the band interaction with the crowd well – better than I had expected in fact – the straining to reach notes I had imagined on some of Ascension’s recorded material never apparent in the live show.
I’m not ready to change my favourite music genres on MySpace just yet but Ascension have rekindled my interest in metal bands, and I’d call that a successful metal gig.
With the 6 track Moongate EP currently in the works and a full UK tour with Broken Melody planned for April 2009 Ascension took a close fought second place at the Aberdeen regional final of The Red Battle.
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