Ascending In Triumph is Swedish doom-metal band Nox Aurea's second full length release following 2009's Via Gnosis and their first to be released by Napalm Records.

Despite the tag of 'doom-metal' there is actually quite a lot of variety in terms of sonic texture within the album. There are thick guitar parts present much of the time obviously, but the drumming and vocal approach varies quite dramatically at times and there's even some fast tremolo picking.

The songs as a whole, however, can most definitely be categorized as doom- slow tempo, heavy and dark. Having said that, there are moments where the music takes on a more beautiful quality which serves as a sort of glimmer of hope amongst the more depressing themes associated with the rest of the music (instrumental album closer 'Emendare' is a perfect example).

Vocally, the album is a mix of harsh growled vocals and very clean, clear female traditional singing which complements the music nicely. All of the vocals are superb in fact, with the screaming ranging from low-end menace to high-end in-your-face anger. The female vocals are simply amazing, one of the best female vocalists in metal in my humble opinion.

At first listen the album sounds very nicely produced, very clear sounding yet still 'full' and heavy. However, in many sections the entire band (including vocals) are panned mid-left other than one guitar part which fills up the right hand side (most noticeable when listening in headphones). While this should sound unbalanced, strangely it works quite well and only serves to make the band sound 'bigger'.

The only problem with this production is that it does detract slightly from the actual performance of the songs and so some of the full force and energy is perhaps taken away. Considering these songs are fairly long (averaging around 8 minutes) it does mean that there is a tendency to get a little bored towards the end of each song.

Having said that, this is a still a very good album and well worth checking out for anyone who even vaguely likes the doom sub-genre.

Album rating: 7/10
Best Tracks: Ascending In Triumph, To The Grave I Belong, Emendare