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Label: Cuneiform
Tracks:
- Arose From The Ashes (5:30)
- Licking The Skull (1:50)
- The Hanging Tree (6:58)
- Swimming In The Big Sky (4:35)
- Special Cases (4:46)
- Stage Three (6:24)
- Disintegration (16:06)
Musicians:
- Gayle Ellett - electric guitar, lute, wooden flute, e-bow, synthesizers,
eld recordings, effects
- Chuck Oken Jr. - drums, percussion, synthesizers, keyboards, sequencer
ogramming
- Henry J. Osborne - bass, didgeridoo
- Mike Henderson - guitars (acoustic, electric, and lap steel), acoustic and
ectronic percussion, e-bow, dumbek, tubano, synthesizers, field
cordings, effects
Gayle Ellett commented to me when I interviewed him, that this album,
recorded in the same recording seasons than "New Dark Age", was following a
different way than the latter, and it's true. It's a work with some tracks a
bit different from NDA and even to the rest of the band's discography, but
without leaving sounding to Djam Karet ever.
"Ascension" is an album less rocker, and a little more "ambient" and more
ethnic than "New Dark Age", but not as much as "Suspension and Displacement"
the basically electronic album of the group. Let's say that "Ascension" is
between the rockish edge and the most "ambient" side of the band. Djam Karet
have, obviously, the same line-up that recorded "New Dark Age", and the
edition of the CD was, at first, limited to 750 copies.
Inside the work, as more prominent, we meet with tracks as "Arose from the
Ashes", a track with an acoustic half, which reminds to Yes' "And you and
I", and an ambient-ethnic half, that turns out to be novel with regard to
the known about the band. The acoustic guitars also have an important
presence in "Swimming in the Big Sky", a very calm track among Pink Floyd
and ethnic music. "Special Cases" would be a more Edhels kind track, but
again with ethnic percussions. "The Hanging Tree" is a typical Djam Karet
track, whereas the only rocker track is the surprising "Stage Three".
Finally, the 16 minutes "Disintegration", is the star track of the album. An
excellent very original piece, atmospheric, "ambient", spatial, soft, and
dynamic and rhythmic at the same time.
I prefer the more rockers Djam Karet, but I think that "Ascension" is
equally a great album.
Rating: 8.5/10
Ferran Lizana
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