ASCENSION OF KINGS

Nth ASCENSION's new musical journey is called 'Ascension Of Kings'. It represents a curious diversity with shades of Magnum, Foreigner, Asia, early Marillion, Yes, Rush, Pink Floyd, Arena (to name a few). What's more, the concoction of influences melds into a passionate exploration of the band's own quirky style. All the ingredients are in right place. Predominantly, the compositions work on two levels: bombastic segments alternate with the delicate nuances and sublime melodies. The lyrics add some poetic feeling to this craftily arranged, compelling affair.. Well, let's elaborate. The opening track, 'Fourth Kingdom', brings a gravitas with exhilarating lead vocals (Michael 'SPUD' Alan Taylor), terrific guitar performance (Martin Walker), layers of synthesizers (Darrel Treece-Birch), energetic drumming (Craig Walker) and associated bass (Gavin Walker). The vanguard song is followed by 'Return Of The King', drawing on a subtly intense power that drives this instrumental forward. Next up, 'Strange Dreams', which starts enthusiastic, then continues changing and evolving throughout its duration. The pace slows down on 'Overture (Clanaan pt.1)' with a vaguely disquieting feel. Its successor, 'Realm With A Soul (Clanaan pt.2)', features gloomy mood and rather distant vocal harmonies. The third instrumental on this album is captivating 'Seventh Rider (Clanaan pt.3)'. Again, the guitar player sets his palette to the fore. In particular, Andy Latimer comes to mind. An unhurried tempo 'Weight Of The World' I'd describe like balladry Roxy Music coupled with Asia-type choruses. Finally, we have a monumental epic, Vision'. This tour-de-force brings the CD to a solemn close. Great stuff!.. Hope, the exquisitely packed 'Ascension Of Kings' will put Nth Ascension on the map of important prog-rock bands.

UK band NTH ASCENSION was formed at the start of 2010, initially as a quartet, and one year later they released a debut album of sorts: A live demo album called "Frequencies of Day and Night" which was made available as a CD-R and as a free digital download. "Ascension of Kings", their official debut album, was released through the now apparently dormant UK label Sonic Vista Music. The band has since signed with the US label Melodic Revolution Records, which currently also has the distribution rights to this album.

Nth Ascension is a band that, on this occasion, combines classic hard rock sounds with vintage-like neo progressive rock, exploring each style individually at first and then combined at the end of the CD. Those who tend to enjoy bands such as Magnum and Saga just as much as Marillion and Pendragon should feel right at home with the contents of this CD, and should probably take the time to get familiar with it.

In 2009, drummer Craig Walker was asked to stand in for a local band, where he met keyboard player Darrel Treece-Birch, who was also helping them out. This led to them deciding to start a new project together, and they brought along Darrel's long time collaborators Martin Walker (who just happens to be Craig's dad) and singer/bassist Alan 'Spud' Taylor. After the release of a demo, Gavin Walker (Craig's brother, Martin's son ? are you following this?) was brought in as bassist to allow Alan to concentrate on singing. At the time of the release (2014) Darrel was in two other bands, one of which was Ten (with whom he is still with today), and singer Gary Hughes helped out by engineering and producing Alan, as well as providing some backing vocals. But these guys are a totally different style of music to what Darrel plays in Ten.

Some people will argue that these guys are neo prog, while others may look to crossover, but it is honestly just easier to state that they are a very English sounding prog band. Classic Pendragon have obviously been an influence, but so have some of the more keyboard- oriented pastoral bands of the past, and every time I play the classic "Weight of The World" the vocals remind me of some of the songs from Roger Glover's 'The Butterfly Ball'! I think what I like about the album is that there is so little stress within it, it is quite laid back at times, but they know when the guitars need to make an impact without always crunching out riffs. They are all fine musicians, but are quite happy to sit back and often let Darrel lead the musical flow while Alan sits over the top of it all with wonderfully melodious vocals. They close with the eighteen-minute-long "Vision" which allows them to musically stretch their wings, yet still keep it all contained and incredibly melodic. Driving, pastoral yet rocky when they need to be, melodic, musical, this is a really nice album indeed.