Glass Hammer – Culture Of Ascent

Culture of Ascent is the 10th Glass Hammer album (not counting Live at NEARfest). It’s hard to believe the band could top the last few CDs, but this is the strongest Glass Hammer lineup yet. Joining Fred Schendel, Steve Babb, and Matt Mendians are French guitarist David Wallimann, the best guitarist GH have had to date, and Carl Groves (Salem Hill) on lead and backing vocals. Susie Bogdanowicz also supplies lead and backing vocals, and the band is augmented by a string trio. Guests provide backing vocals and acoustic guitar. One of these guests is Jon Anderson, who sings on two tracks. The CD opens with a cover of Yes’ South Side of the Sky. Rather than a pointless clone, this is a beautiful new arrangement featuring a trip-hop loop in some sections. The effect of arranging a Yes track seems to have carried over into some of the other tracks, which show a lot of Yes influence, nothing new for GH, but more work than ever seems to have gone into the vocal arrangements. More often though the music is closer to Song for America-era Kansas, especially when violin is in the mix. Six tracks span 69 minutes, with fully professional production and mastering.