There’s genuinely not a filler track amongst the eleven songs here, and this is an album that has the same energy and excitement as early H.E.A.T and Eclipse material. With The Ascendance, Art Nation have definitely ascended towards the top of the pile of Swedish melodic rock bands.
Art Nation could almost be a description of Sweden these days, as the country churns out an endless stream of music, especially under the melodic rock umbrella. Vying for attention amongst this melodic rock crowd are Art Nation, a group from Gothenburg, who were formed by Alexander Strandell (vocals) and Christoffer Borg (guitars) in 2014. There seems to have been a game of musical chairs with the other musicians in the band and at present the third and final member of the unit is bassist Richard Svärd. Despite this seeming instability in the lineup, Art Nation have now made it to their fifth album release with The Ascendance.
From the opening notes, it’s clear that Art Nation are a modern rock band and not one of those ‘80s clones that live in a creative vacuum. There may be touches of Bon Jovi here and there, especially with some of the anthemic vocal phrasing, but Art Nation’s influences seem to be more from the hard-rocking bands – such as Eclipse and H.E.A.T (remaining within the Swedish orbit), or the more symphonic metal of Amaranthe.
Set Me Free bursts out of the gates in a flurry of power metal drumming and synths – despite the band having no official drummer or keyboardist! It’s a powerful metal opening that reminded me of symphonic metal bands such as Ad Infinitum or Delain, full of the sort of catchy hook lines, pregnant pauses, and singalong choruses typical of those bands. Thunderball continues in the same high-energy mode, with a lovely Delain-style keyboard hook line and a very catchy chorus, even if the melody sounds uncannily like Adele’s Skyfall. A brilliant opening trio is completed by Halo, another symphonic metal piece with fierce guitar riffing mixed with a clever keys and vocal refrain. Those three tracks last a tad under twelve minutes, which highlights another strength of Art Nation which is the conciseness of their writing. Dragging these songs out to five, six or more minutes would have lost some of the energy and reduced their impact, but instead there’s absolutely no fluff and it’s a thrilling ride.
The middle part of the album tends more towards a heavy but melodic rock sound, closer to the Eclipse/H.E.A.T paradigm. Amongst the most interesting moments are Runaway, which has a striking a cappella opening (and middle section), the harmonies in the chorus of Lightbringer, and the burst of Nightwish-style chanted vocals in A New Beginning. There’s space too for a power balled, Julia, which gives Strandell a platform to shine. In the press release, Strandell describes how this track is dedicated to his partner, adding ‘I hope listeners can feel the sincerity and emotion in every part of the track’. Well, you certainly can.
If there’s a weakness in the album, then perhaps it’s in the production which sounds bright and over-compressed to me. The press release proudly claims that Richard Svärd’s ‘deep grooves and intricate bass lines lay the foundation for Art Nation’s unstoppable momentum’. I can’t really comment on that because I struggle to even hear his bass! I suspect that many of the songs on The Ascendance will really come into their own on the stage though when hopefully Svärd’s bass will be loud and clear.
Rise and Fallout close the album with the same sort of high-octane metal that opened proceedings. There’s genuinely not a filler track amongst the eleven songs here, and this is an album that has the same energy and excitement as early H.E.A.T and Eclipse material. With The Ascendance, Art Nation have definitely ascended towards the top of the pile of Swedish melodic rock bands.
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