TALAMASCA -

TALAMASCA - ASCENSION - DCA
Fans of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles will recognize the Talamasca moniker. Born in America as early as 1994, Ascension is the band's second album and the follow-up to 1998's Projection. The quartet of singer Steve Gentz, guitarist Andy Paredes, bassist Brad Schuler and drummer Matthew Lee Belanger have played and self-produced a competent album. In fact, musicians will recognize the four to be very good musicians. Andy Parades is a guitar teacher and, similarly, drummer Belanger is a fellow music instructor.
What is often lacking here is either flare or gusto. The band's mastery of the instrumentation has lulled the band into a safe haven where the quartet is content to remain domiciled within the well-accepted parameters of its genre. With most of the influence here drawn from Queensryche, Fates Warning and Sanctuary, the songs don't go the distance. The best song is The Virtuous Man where the guitars see some lift-off, the vocals are more energetic and an acoustic break helps with variety. The second-best is Collective where the nice little leads help - incidentally something the band should incorporate given how fluid the few here are. The band, at a guess, is Christian in spirit and incorporates positive messages into the album. An unannounced Queensryche cover is tagged at the album's end.