Far Beyond the Stars

It is pretty well stipulated that power metal is more of an uplifting variant on all things metallic, and there are a number of bands supporting synonymous terms for spirits rising to further bolster the point. Few of these bands are as direct in this as one with a name like Ascension, a band that makes a habit of being an exception to the rule as they hail from Scotland, where the pickings for internationally renowned power metal acts are quite scarce. They are a band that tends towards the lighter and more showy side of the equation, which is something of a trademark for a number of acts that have hailed from the British Isles of late, taking a road of super consonant music at largely epic time lengths that should be quite familiar territory for trustees of this style who were following it prior to the advent of Sabaton, Powerwolf, and a number of others that have kept things in a more compact and concise packaging of late.

The parallels that this band and their first LP Far Beyond The Stars share with a number of acclaimed acts from just a bit further south are impossible to miss. Whoever is writing these songs definitely has a strong affinity for Sam Totman's approach, notably his handiwork on the earlier days of Dragonforce when they went by the DragonHeart moniker, and also to an extent the earliest works out of Power Quest, considering that this album carries a name that would presume to up the ante on Totman's signature song off Wings Of Forever. Likewise, the heavily shred oriented and sweep-picking happy guitar wizardry that wheels its way through most of these songs is all but a perfect amalgamation of the Totman vs. Li battles that highlighted the Dragonforce years prior to ZP Theart's exodus, and vocalist Richard Carnie could be likened to a ZP emulator minus the chain smoking given his much cleaner timbre yet highly similar vocal character.

In spite of the heavy similarities to one of the biggest names in power metal, it should be noted that Ascension does make a fairly good attempt at distinguishing themselves from the Dragonforce brand in how they manage the detailing and nuances of their craft. The riff work is a bit more involved than the punk rock on crack character of Totman's all speed, all the time approach to rhythm guitar work, and occasionally resembles the slightly more involved aspects of a Gamma Ray or Helloween mode where the rhythm guitar is emphasized a bit more, whereas the occasional keyboard input tends to mirror a Stratovarius approach of doubling lead guitar lines, while simultaneously having a very limited impact on the overall atmosphere of the album, making for something that sounds a bit more stripped down than a typical Swedish or Finnish album, allowing for some of the nifty little bass work that usually gets buried under the the drums and guitars to shine, particularly on the album's technically tinged instrumental "Orb Of The Moons".

The largest contrast that these speedy Scots manage to conjure up to avoid becoming an all out Dragonforce tribute band is a dual sense of introspection and sadness both lyrically and musically that cuts against the all glorious, all the time heroics that typify said band. This is most apparent on the highly subdued ballad "The Silver Tide" and the more fatalistic cruisers "The Time Machine" and "Reflected Life" where the picture of an antihero emerges lyrically. Musically these songs dwell upon feelings of strife that are often presented in the verse of a typical song in this style, but instead of a resolved chorus, the song continues throughout on this note, to the point where the whole song feels like an extended yet highly formulaic set of verses broken up with lead breaks. Other songs such as "The Avatar (Ascension)" and "Somewhere Back In Time" come off a bit more triumphant and veer off the predetermined path more by simply being longer and chock full of more lead guitar sorcery, with the rest of the album largely functioning as shorter versions of the same general idea.

It's an oddly coincidental, or perhaps not fact that bands that will follow the foot steps of an elder will often come into their own at around the time that their inspiration will move into different territory, and Ascension definitely doesn't buck the trend here. This is perfectly suited to stand in place of that continuation of older styled Dragonforce that became antiquated for said band when they took on a new singer at the same time that this came out. To be fair, the shorter and less showy incarnation of Dragonforce that took over can be seen here a bit if one has the Japanese version, as the closing song (which is a rerecording of an older song) takes the short and sweet road, almost as if letting the audience know that Ascension could write radio songs if they felt like doing so. But be the songs long or short, they are definitely a load of fun, if maybe a bit less celebratory than a typical speedy and melodic affair for this style. With all the fantasy cliches, cinema blockbuster inspired songs, impressive gender-bending notes and guitar contortionist mayhem to boot, what more can a man ask for?

It's standard practice for a Scottish fan to have a good moan about how virtually no metal bands ever make it out their local scene around these parts, but it’s an adage that’s starting to become less relevant with the likes of Cerebral Bore, Falloch and just recently Cnoc An Tursa signing up with decent-sized labels. Scottish power metal has almost always been a virtual contradiction in terms though, with Alestorm’s right-place-at-the-right-time success being, for better or worse, the only notable export out there in that department.

The mighty and dear departed Syth were a power metal mainstay in their own, one-off way, but Aberdeen’s Ascension are as near as I can see a first in that they play no-holds-barred European power metal, and have found a natural home on Spiritual Beast for their debut ‘Far beyond the stars’ which seems some newer songs line up alongside some old favourites that have been recorded a few times down the years.

Despite a healthy and evident influence from the old stalwarts in Gamma Ray and Stratovarius (particularly on the often neo-classical lead playing), the first and most obvious comparison would be to Dragonforce. Forming as they did in 2004, just as Dragonforce were about to hit the big time, it’s easy to see how influenced they have been by the London band, but digging a little deeper goes to show they are not an outright clone and much of the similarity lies more in the presentation rather than the actual content.

The production style (a typically astute and notably self-financed Andy LaRocque job) is of the completely in-your-face variety, the vocals massively front and centre and the drums rattling like artillery fire, while for the most part every song blasts away at a searing tempo.

The end product is one that is massively vibrant, though often rather chaotic, and for all the focus on catchiness in the melodies, parts of a few of the songs just don’t stick. When they hit the nail on the head though, Ascension can be unstoppable. The opener, “Somewhere back in time” is stunning, showing off most of the excesses that the rest of the CD will imbue (and even cheekily giving the first of many, many solos over to bassist Nick Blake) in a succinct fashion, with the memorable chorus showing off the best of wailing of vocalist Richard Carnie. Some of the longer songs sometimes threaten to wear out their welcome and don’t knit together properly, but the emotional, uplifting “The time machine” (only losing points for being based on the guff Guy Pearce film version rather than the original story) shows them battering out a 7-minute plus song as if it was nothing at all.

While there are some tasteful keyboard brushes from time to time, the only real moment where they take centre stage is a guest spot from Elias Holmlid on the eye-watering instrumental “Orb of the moons”, and the guitars well and truly rule the roost the rest of the time. Founder Stuart Docherty and Fraser Edwards are a gifted pair who play off each other well, and while they rarely stand out from one another in style, they compliment each other very well indeed, with many of the typically extensive solos wheeling in and out of harmonised sections with gleeful abandon.

To be truthful, there is a bit of overkill in this department, and the endless instrumental sections, while doubtlessly of great technical virtue, do lead to the old “gallop fatigue” problem, and a bit more variety of approach would probably make the CD a little easier to swallow in one sitting. On the other hand, the sole moment where Ascension do slow things down is, predictably, a ballad, and almost as predictably, the weakest song on the CD. The acoustic guitars feel misused and out of place, while Carnie reveals quite a limited normal singing voice when all that belting falsetto is stripped away The drums, and the production style, geared to an all-out audio assault feel over-cooked on this more slender offering, but it is the only out-and-out misfire.

Despite a few moments where it tends to sag under the weight of its own excess, ‘Far beyond the stars’ proves to be a more than satisfactory debut. Speed freaks lamenting Dragonforce’s decision to mix things up a little bit on their newest CD and Cellador’s reluctance to properly reappear will find a welcome tonic, but to balance that out some others may find this overly sugary offering likely to induce brain rot after a few songs.

(Originally written for http://www.metalcdratings.com/)