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Under The Veil Of Madness

    
       
       
       
     
             
Ascension are a power metal band from the UK formed in 2004, and to date have released two E.P.'s - 'Moongate' (2009) and 'Alchemy' (2010) - and two full length albums - 'Far Beyond The Stars' (2012) and 'Under The Veil Of Madness', released in 2023.    
             
Now then - British power metal has largely been dominated by DragonForce over the last twenty years, the London based outfit taking on the might of Germany and Sweden for power metal dominance. But DragonForce are not alone in their fight - for Birmingham based power metallers Ascension are fighting the good fight too! Their brand of metal is strikingly similar to DragonForce - blistering speed, intricate guitar virtuosity, and an insane happy head bang-able aura. The bands new album 'Under The Veil Of Madness', features ten songs across an hour of energetic power, all coming to life with 'Sayonara' - the first song on the album ironically having a title that translates to "goodbye". When in fact it's a hello, as the albums just begun! And what a beginning - 'Sayonara' very quickly into its stride, blazing a fiery trail across the sky as it rockets on by! And I guess now you can hear the similarity to DragonForce - a fact that I'll mention no more.    
             
And without a break for a breather, Ascension power on with the red hot 'Megalomaniac' - faster paced and happier sounding than the opening salvo! The recent album by Swedish power metallers Skyblazer was an amazing slice of happy metal, planting smiles a mile wide on the faces of listeners everywhere - and that's exactly what 'Megalomaniac' is also gonna do! Especially the mid song breakdown which sounds like a roll call at a circus! Funky stuff from the British metallers. Heavying things up a little, 'Defiance' is a pocket rocket compared to the albums opening double - it's shorter, and features gear changes aplenty, but doesn't lose any of the albums overall oomph and intensity. Although 'Monsters' does open with a tension fuelled intro building a crescendo until the feel of anthemic metal takes hold - only for the band to promptly plant their foot firmly on the accelerator! 'Monsters' adopting the classic gallop of traditional heavy metal, but at a higher speed than say, Iron Maiden ever achieved - Ascension breezing through the first four songs with absolute ease.    
             
With pace a major feature of 'Under The Veil Of Madness', the band roar on with 'Set You Free' - a song that for the first time (on the album) has shades of the European style of power metal. The band are British, and the album up to this point has been British, but Ascension are showing they're happy to expand their sound to the European mainland. Not that it's a bad thing, good God no. 'Under The Veil Of Madness' has been breathless since it began - and I just can't see it slowing down. 'Last Winter's Night' proving me correct - the band speeding on like they're late for an important date! And the happy metal aura rises high once again, Ascension loving what they do - and so do I! And so will you, the band delivering an album of immense head bang ability, so make sure your neck muscles are warmed up and feeling flexible! Title song 'Under The Veil Of Madness' moves the album to a heavier plane - and then WTF! A comical verse of singing that sounds like a mad person - the kind of singing you'd expect to hear in a comedy stage play to build the tension towards a dramatic outcome! It's simply genius from the band - adding to the (albums) already happy aura. Smiles are gonna become cheeky grins with this one, Ascension delivering a truly amazing moment! And the amazing moments continue - but I won't spoil them for you. You're just gonna have to listen for yourselves!    
             
So where do we go after such an amazing title song? A return to blistering speed, courtesy of 'Power Of A Thousand Suns', dropping a gear as it gets going properly. And as it turns out, 'Power Of A Thousand Suns' is an instrumental - highlighting the virtuosity of the band! And it doesn't detract from all the power and energy of the album so far! 'Pages Of Gold' comes to life at a more sedate pace than the rest of the album - for the first minute anyway! And then gear changes abound - up and down - as 'Pages Of Gold' meanders it's way across the land. Ascension proving they're not just an all out speedy power metal band. With the hour run time almost up, 'Under The Veil Of Madness' (the album) has shown an incredible amount of energy and pizzazz, with the albums final hurrah 'God Of Death', bringing a more bustling nature to the album, yet retaining the phenomenal pace exuded by every song on offer. So if you're looking for a breathless non-stop roller coaster of head bang ability - look no further than Ascension's second album 'Under The Veil Of Madness'.    
             
Overall, incredible speed mixed with tonnes of energy, 'Under The Veil Of Madness' is loaded with infectious power driven metal.    
             
             
Review by Iron Mathew Collins    
             
Reviewed for Metal Gods TV    
             
             
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