Ascent Effort by Rhododendron

For fans of Duster, Great Falls, Febuary, classic dissonant post hardcore, and winter in both the literal weather sense and the metaphorical cultural and historical sense, Ascent Effort by Rhododendron locks us in a tense emotional climb up a mountain with no summit. Only the briefest and most ambiguous positive spins intrude on the overall darkness of this record, with suspended chords, erratic riffs, intense performances, and irregular structures constantly raising our anxiety. In a world nearing the disastrous end of enormous, unstoppable historical cycles, a spiritually and morally frigid environment suffocates us with the same totality we find on Ascent Effort, both the album and our entire culture bracing for a traumatic impact lingering just beyond the horizon. We search desperately for an exit or at the very least some summit from which to communicate with the divine, but as our bodies fail and our minds collapse, we’re rewarded with nothing but a deep, all-encompassing exhaustion.