Glass Hammer ~ Culture Of Ascent

I have been listening to the new one by Glass Hammer recently. This US band have been making excellent symphonic prog for many years now. Their last “The Incosolable Secret” was a bit of a high watermark. It was an ambitious 2 CD affair, with a very nice sleeve designed by Roger Dean. The band continue their Yes connection this time on “Culture Of Ascent” with Jon Anderson guesting on a couple of tracks and they also cover “South Side Of The Sky” which does fit in with the general concept of the album. I think this album is their most complex musically and I like the way they mix contemporary production ideas into the symphonic arrangements. Though Yes is an obvious influence, they are never derivative. They have taken Yes’s “Close to the Edge” and “Awaken” as prototypes and developed their own particular sound.

Another album that I have really enjoyed recently is “Doomsday Afternoon” by Phideaux. This is an unusual album. It is prog, with bits of folk and other ideas thrown in, but it’s not much like anything else in the genre. Very individual, theatrical maybe I need to check out their other albums.

I was recently on Big Big Train’s Gregory Spawtons blog, where he mentions Thieves Kitchen. I remember thier “Shibboleth” album of many years back, so it’s good to see they are planning a new album for sometime next year. Their keyboard player is Thomas Johnson who used to be with the mighty Anglagard! Now there was a band!!!