Wednesday 19 April 2017

Arc Of Ascent - Realms Of The Metaphysical (Album Review)


Release date: April 09th 2017. Label: Self Released. Format: CD/DD

Realms Of The Metaphysical – Tracklisting

1.Set the Planets Free 07:59
2.Eye of Sages 07:10
3.Hexagram 07:34
4.In the Light 08:05
5.Benediction Moon 05:57
6.Temple Stone 09:40

Members:

Craig Williamson - Bass/Vocals
Matt Cole-Baker - Guitar
Mark McGeady - Drums

Review

Arc of Ascent are a 3-piece band that consist of a guitarist strapped with a riff cannon, a bassist who must have stringed up with rubberbands the size of truck tires, and a drummer who floats like a skateboarder that rises, falls and abounds within an empty swimming pool. The overall vibe of this album is reminiscent of an old Bloodrock gin and tonic, accented with an added new twist of lime laden stoner doom and psychedelica.

‘Realms of the Metaphysical’ is a tremendous album of top-notch heaviness that harmonize the scorpions cacti against the background of a warm, burnt orange sunset. This album is definitely more solidified and further self-assured than ‘Circle Of The Sun’ and is categorically farther in line, at least sonically, with ‘The Higher Key’.

This album is a demonstration of gloomy aligned confidence and eerie united refinement. Every song holds its ontological own, while simultaneously gelling the album together like elastic super glue. The songs…

‘Set The Planets Free’ is slow, deliberate and perfectly stoned. Catch the riff, its time to fly.

‘Eye of Sages’ is a crusher; a heavy pound cake containing all the ingredients required in premier sonic doom.

‘Hexagram’ is a holy surfboard ride along a prehistoric sailfish during the crustaceous period.

‘In the Light’ throbs like a giant oil rig drilling deep for nature’s coveted crude with each support swinging broad and lubricated with farm margarine.

‘Benediction Moon’ has a pulsation not unlike an oscilloscope stuck on vector display mode. A stoner doom chef-d'oeuvre.

‘Temple Stone’ bestows supernatural sprays of cosmic distortion, mixed with the mystical Helmholtz motion of a sitar, along with tidal waves of rich and splendid organ.

Arc of Descent hold the stoner doom talisman high and reveal that this object is more than just a trinket, for held at its sanctified centre is the crowned jewel of magnificence, all of which is representative of a band on the way to a veteran realm status. In ‘Realms of the Metaphysical’, the traditions of stoner rock and heavy doom are fused together, showcasing the skills portrayed by this killer team of the melodic elite and their most consummate sound to date.

Words by Nick Palmisano

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