CULTURE OF ASCENT

Glass Hammer, I heard a lot about this banda and seemed to be one of those cases of instant liking: they have the right influences and the musicians were more than capable to live up to their biggest influence, the mighty Yes of the 70´s. Unfortunatly they never had the songwriting skills to match their obviously great technique. The lack of a strong singer and the mediocre productions of some of their CDs didn´t help matters either. They released a lot of stuff, but this was clearly the case of quantity over quality.

I woudn´t had bother to get this CD if there wasn´t for some glowing reviews on PA I happened to read. Since I´m always trying to be open minded I decided to give this band another shot. And I must say, after repeated listenings, that, yes, they are getting better. Culture of Ascent won´t be the CD that will set the prog world afire, but it´s a step forward towards the right direction. The tunes are stronger than the one´s I´ve heard before, more convincing and the arrangements are also better done. The inclusion fo the violin in some tracks is a plus, giving a nice 70´s had Kansas-like feeling here and there.

The CD starts very well with a good cover of Yes´s South Side Of The Sky. Here they prove how accomplished musicians they are. It´s a respectiful cover with some extras touches that add to the song without distorting its original beauty and structure. Their original stuff is nice enough. Nothing extraordinaire or too exciting but nothing like the frustrating tunes I found on some of their earlier CDs. There are no highlights but there arlso no fillers either. Production here is also much better and fitting to their sound than before. Not really perfect, but adequate.

All in all I found Culture Of Ascent a pleasant CD. If you like 70´s symphonic prog influenced music, and don´t care much for originality, this may be a good pick. Ratinhg: something between 2,5 and 3 stars, that I will round up to a full 3 stars because they are indeed improving.