AMBIENT DEN

Today I'll be reviewing "Ambient Den", the self-titled album by the project of the same name. The album is a collaboration between three Australian prog musicians: multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Ben Craven, Tim Bennetts, keyboardist and vocalist from the bands Seven Day Mask and SUB INC, and drummer Dean Povey of Frankenfido. According to the information I have, the project began during COVID lockdowns. The album is based on a concept of mankind searching for a new home in the cosmos and terraforming a planet for us to live on. While the album is said to be inspired by 70's prog, it maintains the cinematic qualities of Ben Craven's well-respected solo work. Incidentally, Ambient Den is an anagram of the 3 musicians first names: Ben, Tim and Dean. The album contains six primary tracks and 4 single edits and is produced by Ben Craven.

Disclosure: Anne Claire of Bad Dog Productions sent me a digital copy to listen to and review. I receive no other compensation for this. I call it like I hear it! As usual, this is a "cold listen".

Without further ado, let's prepare for liftoff!

Track 1- Future History, Part 1

This is the shortest track at under 2 minutes. It begins with "spacey" sound effects. A gentle synth takes over and backs an acoustic guitar solo. At around 1:15, the music becomes more rhythmic, and an electric guitar solo becomes the focus. The overall sound is very reminiscent of Pink Floyd, especially the guitar and organ tones. A synth sound gives me the impression that we have landed, then a synth drone leads us to the first full track. This is a terrific introduction to the album, as it has me anticipating what is coming next and sets the stage.

Track 2 - For All Mankind

This is the third longest track at 8:16. The drone continues, and synth lead begins over the top. The Floydian vibes continue. The rhythm kicks in and we are at a moderately fast tempo. Lead guitar takes us to the first vocals; we are primarily in a meter of 7 here. I like the vocal tones that are first done solo, then in unison with others. In the second verse, the vocals become harmonized. I am enjoying this! At 3:50, the key and the underlying rhythm changes, and we have a synth feature. Slide guitar follows with the rhythm section accenting underneath, while synths create a nice wash of sound. Another guitar solo takes the spotlight at around 6:20. The solo continues as the vocals sing the chorus as we approach the ending. Wonderful track! I love it!

Track 3 - Provenance

We begin with an accented chord in a moderately slow 4-4. The lead guitar is featured first\. This is a mid-length song coming in at a bit longer than 5 minutes. At around 1:45 the dynamic level eases off, but the lead guitar continues. So far this is shaping up to be an instrumental track, let's see if that proves to be the case. Ben Craven is really showing us his wonderful guitar skills on this one. Definitely some David Gilmour influence here, but not a clone, as his own style comes through. As the track nears the end, delicate, almost classical-style piano takes over. Yes, it is a purely instrumental track. Very nice! A low synth drone connects us to the next track.

Track 4 - Earthrise

This is the second longest one at over 9 minutes. The drone carries over and crescendos into a mid-tempo, atmospheric groove. The vocals are in harmony. I love the soundscapes in this one, and there is a sequenced groove that keeps the song moving in the verses. Just before 3 minutes, the groove stops, and we have an acoustic guitar solo. The groove returns in the second half of the solo, which ends with a slight ritardando (slowing down) then another crescendo to take us to the next verse. At around 4:50, everything but piano drops out initially and we have a beautiful piano solo, joined by some subtle slide guitar. This is followed by the rhythm resuming and an acoustic guitar solo. By 6 minutes the tempo and dynamics pick up and he switches to electric guitar. There is a great moving bass line underneath (played by Craven, I presume). This solo is quite extended and seems to be taking us to the end. While the solo has a definite Gilmour influence, there are a few quicker runs near the end of the solo that are a bit more "shreddy" than Gilmour is known to do. With about a minute left the instruments fade out in favor of a pair of classical guitar parts. Fantastic track!

Track 5 - Terraforming

This is the big epic of the album, clocking in at 16:31. I am looking forward to hearing it, as I have enjoyed the rest of the album to this point! It begins with some basic piano chords in a well-executed rhythm. An acoustic guitar comes in on top playing a solo. Eventually some subtle organ joins as well. At about 1:35 the drums lead the rhythm section in, and he switches to electric guitar with a rotary speaker effect on it. At around 2 minutes in, the music modulates up and the backing arrangement adds more layers. He is now on slide guitar. Nice crescendo at around 2:30. We modulate back to the original key and electric piano takes the spotlight, and the bass is the most prominent that it has been on the album to this point. Just after 3:30, acoustic guitar takes the lead again, joined by choir sounds (mellotron, perhaps?). By around 4:30, the rhythm changes and there is an organ solo. The beat becomes a quick shuffle, and I am reminded of "One of These Days" from Pink Floyd's "Meddle" album, but a bit quicker with slide guitar returning. By around 5:30 there are some "gothic choir sounds". But then we get jazzy! Not sure if we are going to have vocals or not, but I am enjoying it either way! Next, slide guitar and organ trade solos for a bit. Right around the halfway point, there is a brief glorious cacophony, then the guitar plays some un- accompanied licks with band accents in between. The beat soon returns as does the awesome guitar soloing. Around 9:30 the instruments sustain and bring the dynamic level down. Povey plays some nice ride-cymbal rhythms to keep a sense of time, then more rhythms join back in. It is a slow build for the next few minutes with many layers of sound. Just before 13 minutes, the rhythms smooth back out. Acoustic guitar leads take the stage, soon joined by actual vocal "ahhs" in harmony. By 13:25 the vocals are augmented by the synth vocals. Harmonized guitar parts join the dense soundscape. It almost feels like we are ascending to a spiritual plane. At around 14:30, things come back down, and some electric guitar licks take the lead. There are also nice electric piano parts from Bennetts. Things begin to wind down and the electric piano plays some strong chords with a little flourish at the end to close out this dynamic epic instrumental piece (the few vocals are instrumental in nature, so I'll call it an instrumental despite their presence). Incredible track!

Track 6 - Future History, Part 2

The second part of the bookends of the proper album (not counting the 4 single edits of songs) is considerably longer than the opening part, but still not very long at 5:37. This begins with a funky, phasey, mu-tron groove. This part of it has vocals. There is either an actual horn section, or a convincing synth horn section after the first verse/chorus cycle. The funky groove remains throughout. This one is much more jazz fusion oriented (or even like Toto on "Pamela") compared to the Floydian feel of the rest of the album. The instruments jam out on the groove as the song reaches an end. The instruments get fewer as the song fades out. A cool ending with a very different vibe from the rest of the album. Well done guys!

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:

I am really glad I chose this one to review! I truly enjoyed every minute of the album. With the exception of the final track, the Pink Floyd feel is strong throughout. Some might call it "derivative", but so what? I was quite impressed that they pulled off a 16 and a half minute instrumental that never got boring (see my review of Jethro Tull's "Curious Ruminant" and you'll see that that can be a tall order sometimes, even for seasoned prog veterans).But still, anyone who liked Pink Floyd inspired music will surely enjoy this, and the 3 band members individual musical personalities still shine through! I'll give this a very solid 4.5 out of 5 stars. This will rank highly in my year end rankings for 2025, I am sure.

Clicked 4, but really 4.5!

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