Label: Kscope Records
Release date: 3. 11. 2023
Production: Gong
Length: 39.58 min
Genre: Progressive Rock / Canterbury Scene
Rating: 9.0/10
Gong, the cult heroes of the Canterbury scene, are one of the few bands from prog rock’s golden age for whom the decision to keep creating and performing after the death of their founder and chieftain Daevid Allen, and the departure of the last original member, turned out to be more than the right call. Didier Malherbe, the last founding member, left in 2016, the year »Rejoice! I’m Dead!« came out, the first Gong album after Allen’s death.
Since then, the reins have been in the hands of Allen’s successor, the brilliant singer/guitarist and lyricist Kavus Torabi, best known for his work in Cardiacs and Knifeworld, helped along by other seasoned players, with bassist Dave Sturt (ex-Jade Warrior) and guitarist Fabio Golfetti (Violeta de Outono) standing out. Plenty of Gong diehards were pleasantly surprised by the new Gong, and that goes both for the aforementioned first album without Allen and for its follow-up, »The Universe Also Collapses« (2019).
»Unending Ascending«, released in 2023, is the third album from post-Allen Gong or, if you prefer, Torabi’s Gong. Unsurprisingly, this one too stands right up there with some of the best moments of their turbulent past. Some will quickly notice that Torabi’s lyrics still don’t reach the eccentricity of Allen’s brainchildren, even though he does his best to carry on the strange Gong mythology, which these days will probably appeal most to fans of psychedelically offbeat, socially critical sci-fi in the vein of ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’.
»Tiny Galaxies« is a classically ‘tripped-out’ intro to the album, strongly reminiscent of some of the stuff from the cult Gong »Radio Gnome« era. Things really come alive on the spirited »My Guitar Is a Spaceship«, where the psychedelic harmonies, unbridled sax solos, spiky guitar passages, eclectic rhythmic shifts and the humor typical of this band (in the lyrics and the title track alike) take center stage, something we all too often miss in modern progressive rock.
»Ship of Ishtar« is probably the most psychedelic and ethereal composition on »Unending Ascending«. With its ambient drapes and vocal chanting, it feels less like a new psychedelic/space rock adventure and more like a musical ritual, if not a prayer dedicated to an ancient goddess. It’s worth pointing out here that Ishtar, whom Torabi calls out so rapturously, as if she were about to descend from the sky any second, was the most important Mesopotamian goddess, a sort of Mesopotamian version of Aphrodite/Venus. The English guitarist of Iranian/Persian descent, born in Tehran, reminds us this time of his roots (and not only the musical ones).
With just the right balance of psychedelic dreaminess and melodicism plus energetic guitar solos, »O, Arcturus« is a real treat for all the longtime fans, while the sax bits keep the playfulness and mischief flowing nicely. »All Clocks Reset« at times sounds like a rediscovered track from the first half of the seventies, mainly thanks to Torabi’s singing, which often sounds a lot like Allen’s vocal approach, and the cheeky sax passages.
Still, there are a few moments on »Unending Ascending« that are hard to imagine coming from Allen’s Gong. A prime example of this refreshing ‘modern’ experimentation is »Choose Your Goddess«, which by Gong standards is a seriously unusual piece, easily the hardest-hitting thing on the album, with almost heavy-metal passages, a raging sax and nearly brutal drum seasoning. For all that unexpected bristling, it’s still an unmistakable Gong psychedelic space rock adventure, with unpredictable time changes, complex instrumental sections and eclectic vocal bits from the charismatic Torabi. »Lunar Invocation«, another ritual chant, and the ethereal »Asleep Do We Lay« close the album on a distinctly serene note.
»Unending Ascending« is a classic Gong album that came out in 2023, but thanks in part to its retro production, it could easily have come out in 1973, in prog rock’s ‘golden age’. Since Allen’s death, time really doesn’t matter anymore where Gong are concerned. They still faithfully follow his musical and conceptual vision, which means they’re keeping the far-from-ordinary Gong mythology ‘alive’ too. They pull it off a lot better than at least 80% of the progressive rock legends and genre pioneers still active, the ones who can boast they got started back in the second half of the sixties.
Author: Peter “Dr. ProgRock” Podbrežnik
Tracklist:
1. Tiny Galaxies (3:33)
2. My Guitar Is a Spaceship (4:09)
3. Ship of Ishtar (8:33)
4. O, Arcturus (3:55)
5. All Clocks Reset (4:09)
6. Choose Your Goddess (6:49)
7. Lunar Invocation (4:34)
8. Asleep Do We Lay (4:16)
Lineup:
Ian East – saxophones, flutes
Fabio Golfetti – guitar, vocals
Cheb Nettles – drums, vocals
Dave Sturt bass guitar, vocals
Kavus Torabi – guitar, vocals
