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The Laconic — Ascension
(Iapetus no#, 2024, CD / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2024-10-23

Ascension Cover art

If you’re not familiar with The Laconic, as I wasn’t before this album, you might look at the fact that Marc Pelath plays touch guitar, plus the fact that Markus Reuter is a guest on the album, and figure the music would be another variation on the 80s King Crimson style exhibited by Stick Men, Herd of Instinct, and others. You would be mostly wrong about that. While you might occasionally hear a repeating motif interlocking rhythmically with other parts, the vast majority of Ascension has much more in common with Camel’s Snow Goose and Mike Oldfield’s Ommadawn than anything in the Crimson sphere. Dissonance and angular melodies are not on offer. Keyboards are the dominant instruments in this highly melodic music, and the impression is of composed chamber music with some electric and electronic instruments, along with occasional percussion. Most of the tracks bear little relation to rock music, though the energetic drumming on “The Mind Freed” is a high point of the album, and some of the climactic sections lean toward the kind of epic codas Genesis did in their late-70s pieces.. Elsewhere the percussion takes a more cinematic path rather than sounding like a standard kit, such as the thunderous toms in the last half of “To Watch the Course of the Stars.” The melodies are often carried by a flute or oboe (or digital stand-in, I’m not sure), with piano and electric guitar also getting their shots. Speaking of Mike Oldfield, the album finishes off with a cover of “Ascension” from Songs of Distant Earth, driving the comparison home. For listeners who like some grit or edge to their music, The Laconic might be a bit on the tame side, but lovers of beautiful harmonies and sweeping melodies will find a lot to like with Ascension.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases

Related artist(s): Simon Phillips, Markus Reuter, Gary Husband, Fabio Trentini / Moonbound, The Laconic (Marc Pelath)

More info
http://thelaconic.bandcamp.com/album/ascension

 

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