It comes as no surprise at all that this collaboration between Sunn O))) and Goatsnake's Greg Anderson and Gentry Densley from Iceburn is black and metallic. I think anyone would be completely floored if it were to be too insane of a departure from either artist's day jobs, and the influence of their main projects definitely shows through. But, aided and abetted by a slew of collaborators, Ascend has a style and character all its own, even with the obvious lineage from the participants, it is a very interesting work that stands on its own.
Anyone who sees Sunn O))) connected with an album expects some level of bowel churning sub-bass drone and Ample Fire Within is no exception. The opening rumbles of "The Obelisk of Kolob" cements this fact with the lugubrious low frequency guitar that opens it. However, the differences start to become more obvious when the slow, entrenched in swampy mud percussion section starts and the sounds become increasingly complex and layered, ending in a much more structured way than it began. The drone is representing on "V.O.G." as well, but lurking beneath slow martial percussion and what sounds like a dying bagpipe. This sludge metal take on William Wallace's marching music is later augmented with some sickly, anemic guitar soloing from Kim Thayil (yes, from Soundgarden) and Densely's restrained, focused vocals.
Gentry Densely's vocals appear on most of the tracks here, but differ greatly in style and technique. The jazz influenced guitar that opens and closes the title track are matched with more overtly "metal" vocals, sort of Cookie Monster style, but layered and processed enough to make them a different beast entirely. On "Divine" he channels a more angry, slightly less gruff version of Tom Waits that make an excellent match with more open, expansive sound that resembles current day Earth's melodic country/gospel drone played with the intensity of old school Sunn O))).
The closer, "Dark Matter," is perhaps the most experimental here, opening with a deep organ pastiche and distant, echo-y vocals that become more prominant as the mix gets thicker with raw guitar soloing, trombone (from Sunn/Earth collaborator Steve Moore) and eventually the slow, La Brea Tar Pits drumming from earlier. Again, there is another track, "Her Horse Is Thunder," that I didn't have a chance to hear thanks to Southern Lord's policy on promos, which I discussed at length in my review of Boris' Smile a few weeks ago, so I shan't reiterate here.
A lot of the promotion for this album has linked it from the fusion jazz of later Miles Davis to the slow grime of The Melvins, and while that's not immediately apparent on listening, it is definitely there in the more open experimentation and odd structures of the tracks which differ from both primary artists' usual projects. Greg Anderson isn't trying to throw down his best John McLaughin impression, but that vibe is still there. For those who find Sunn O))) and the like a bit too dull and monotonous, this is definitely more accessible and varied, though it lacks that full on subsonic warfare elements that stuff like White1 did so well.
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