''The Ascent'' is the debut studio album by American

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...

band

Secrets Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controvers ...

released on January 17, 2012, through Velocity and Rise Records. The album debuted at number 3 on the Billboard

Heatseekers Infrared homing is a passive weapon guidance system which uses the infrared (IR) light emission from a target to track and follow it seamlessly. Missiles which use infrared seeking are often referred to as "heat-seekers" since infrared is radi ...

chart, as well as the ''Billboard'' 200 at number 185. It is the only release to include original vocalist Xander Bourgeois before his departure in 2013.

Background

Shortly after being signed to Velocity/

Rise Rise or RISE may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * '' Rise: The Vieneo Province'', an internet-based virtual world * Rise FM, a fictional radio station in the video game ''Grand Theft Auto 3'' * Rise Kujikawa, a video ...

the band began working with ex-

A Day to Remember A Day to Remember (often abbreviated ADTR, and previously known as End of an Era) is an American rock band from Ocala, Florida, founded in 2003 by guitarist Tom Denney and drummer Bobby Scruggs. They are known for their amalgamation of meta ...

lead guitarist

Tom Denney Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

for their debut album. In an interview with Rock Edition singer Richard Rogers noted that they had originally intended to release a 5 to 6 song EP. The record label suggested that they instead release a full-length album, and brought in Denney to assist. In order to afford the recording of this album, Secrets camped in a tent in a car park for 1 whole month.

Release and promotion

The first single was "The Heartless Part", released November 22, 2011. The band then released several music videos over the next year for "The Oath", "Blindside", and "Somewhere in Hiding". The band toured extensively after the release to promote the album. They were on the entire 2012 Scream It Like You Mean It Tour, with label mates

Hands Like Houses Hands Like Houses are an Australian rock band from Canberra. Formed in 2008, the group is currently signed to Hopeless Records and UNFD. Their debut album, ''Ground Dweller'', was released on 13 March 2012 and charted at number 141 on the Billbo ...

and

In Fear and Faith In Fear and Faith was an American post-hardcore band from San Diego, California. Formed in 2006, the group was signed to Rise Records and released three studio albums and two EPs. Their debut full-length, ''Your World on Fire'', being released ...

. They also supported

Escape the Fate Escape the Fate is an American rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada, formed in 2004 and originally from Pahrump, Nevada. They are signed to Eleven Seven Music. The group consists of Robert Ortiz (drummer), Craig Mabbitt (lead vocalist), TJ Bell (rhy ...

on their This World Is Ours tour in 2012. They also toured as supporting acts for fellow Rise artists Sleeping with Sirens,

Abandon All Ships Abandon All Ships is a Canadian metalcore band from Toronto, Ontario. Formed in 2006, it was signed domestically to Universal Music Canada via Underground Operations, along with an American deal to Rise Records and its imprint Velocity Records. ...

and Conditions. Prior to this, they toured with

Jamie's Elsewhere Jamie's Elsewhere are an American post-hardcore band formed in Sacramento, California, United States, in 2005. They were signed to Victory Records before deciding not to renew their contract with the label, and have released three full-length al ...

and

Oh, Sleeper Oh, Sleeper is an American metalcore band from Fort Worth, Texas that formed in 2006 with former members of Terminal. In over a decade's span, Oh, Sleeper has released four full-length albums, two EPs, and toured worldwide as an opening act. Af ...

Reception

The album was met with mostly mixed reviews. Grace Duffy of Under the Gun wrote that "There is a consistent air of indecision to The Ascent that costs it a few points, as its frequent shapeshifting doesn’t always flatter the end result. It is nonetheless a hearty and ambitious effort and a compelling listen, strikingly good at best and entertaining even at worst." Other reviewers noted that while the overall sound was quite catchy and had unique vocals, that the lyrics were somewhat generic and lacking in creativity.

Track listing

Personnel

;Secrets * Xander Bourgeois –

unclean vocals A death growl, or simply growl, is an extended vocal technique usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in death metal and other extreme subgenres of heavy metal music. Death growl vocals are sometimes criticized for their ...

* Richard Rogers –

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

clean vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

* Michael Sherman –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

* Marc Koch –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Joe English –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

;Production *

–

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

, mixing, producer * Billy Candler - Management * Will Putney - Mastering * Glenn Thomas - Artwork

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ascent, The 2012 debut albums Rise Records albums Secrets (post-hardcore band) albums Albums produced by Tom Denney