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I was a fan of this band's debut album a few years ago, finding it to be a skillful blast of melodic black/death that took obvious cues from Immortal and Dissection in equal parts. Their follow-up, Everlasting Ascendancy, is basically more of that, with main man Ric Galvez's strong guitar work taking center stage as it weaves between Abbath-esque arrangements and Nödtveidt-inspired melodic sensibilities and acoustic interludes that are supported by his Immortal-styled vocals and guest drummer Dylan Gowan's varied and punchy skin bashing. The main difference is that I think this is just a bit tighter and more assured, grasping more for an individual sound and getting closer to it (which is great, since Ric doesn't seem to care much for comparing his work to other acts). That said, this is still heavily indebted to the Scandinavian sound, and there's only so much you can do within it to avoid obvious comparisons, and there's just not enough here to keep that from happening. Still, when it's done with this much skill and energy, I can't hold it against Ric in the slightest, and anyone with a love for the more melodic end of blackened death metal will find this an album to treasure.