This review was commissioned. However, it bears no weight on the score or decision. All reviews are written from an unbiased standpoint.
A trio of goths return to unleash their debut album upon us and those fine folk are Ceremony Shadows. And if the cover art isn’t enough to win you over as it has a goth girl kneeling in fishnets before two others then I don’t know how to please you in life. Jokes aside Ascension has been on my most wanted list for a little bit of time now thanks to two leading singles Resistance and Reclaim which both claimed a solid eight out of ten from me. The trio’s continued use of minimal yet elegant darkwave continues that trend.
The intro of the album Light Like Stars is an ambient piece at first with the synths acting as whispers in the dark. There are vocals but not singing as it is a calm spoken word. Toward the latter half of the song a small electronic trickle comes in before leading into the album version of the single – yes, same title. This confused me a little bit upon first listen but then again I can hardly ever remember the name of a song from most bands so it might as well be called Track Two and be even more obscure. Regardless the non intro version gives us a nice rhythm and further spoken word vocals those these ones are much more confident with a splash of sass on top. I may even be so bold to say that I sense a little italo-disco influence.
We know my thoughts on Resistance and Reclaim which are tracks three and five and you can click the hyperlinks to see my original thoughts on the tracks. Impetus has some dirty synths mixed in the beat giving it an industrial edge while not quite diving into the true experimental nature of the genre. The vox even get a little smidge of grime on top with a slight electronic touch. Much more grinding and angry then what we’ve seen from Ceremony Shadows thus far but nothing to complain about.
Altars doesn’t even sound like it comes from the darkwave plane and instead breaks the barrier that binds Ceremony Shadows to it. It’s a futuristic electro-ambient track that might even sit adjacent to IDM. That is aside from the final minute of the song which turns into a choir song that turns into a messed up worship piece.
Idolatry has an EBM like bassline but one that’s not quite as aggressive or boot stompy to the nature of the genre. A bit taken aback but something that’s dancefloor worthy whilst not being tied directly to techno either. Whatever it is it’s fun and that’s what counts. Prey sounds like an amalgamation of a lot of the ideas presented on the album thus far complete with a few guitar scratches to boot. The final track which also happens to be the title track ties back to the beginning in a continuous knot by being a primarily instrumental and ambient track with light and bright synths. Ascension. Get it? We’re going up. Or maybe falling down.
Ascension doesn’t disappoint. It’s an exploratory nine-track album that’s labeled as darkwave but acts as a road trip through so many vast territories that it stays fresh while never getting stale. Well done for a debut. Now get a physical version out.
