Rhododendron - Ascent Effort

The Flenser

Portland, Oregon's Rhododendron make their debut on The Flenser. They've hit the Alternative Big Time. The three-piece consisting of Ezra Chong, Gage Walker and Noah Mortola converge on a progressive sound erring on the side of Metal. Landscapes need their soundtrack, and Rhododendron take the meandering roads of the Pacific North West and transpose them to vibrations. 

If you would have asked me when I heard Protozoan Battle Hymns for the first time in 2021 "what label Rhododendron would benefit most from?" it would have been The Flenser, hands down. Low and behold, five years later in March of 2026, Rhododendron and The Flenser would align.

5 tracks and 40-minutes, the project starts off with two worming, weaving tracks in lead single "Firmament" and follow-up single "Like Spitting Out Copper". We don't hear vocals - guttural screeches - for roughly 11-minutes. Vocal presence is minimal across the album, so when they do appear, you notice. The law of Less is More applies here: if you want to be noticed, pull back. 

"Like Spitting Out Copper" takes more of a direct approach structure-wise: one small rev, and we're off. There's less time to stand about. And then the winding ensues. Sights are to be seen, felt. To get lost in. Soak the Sun in, if you're lucky enough to get some. The level of musicianship on show here is amazing. Three minds in one ever-brooding package; three worlds unite to form one. 

The album's centerpiece "Stow" is the sturdiest track on the record. It holds the album's core in a tense state - fit for whatever life throws at it. In the quieter moments Ascent Effort edges into the territory of reflective music. As reflective as said moments can be, Ascent Effort is chaotic for the most part - a complete clusterfuck. Like musicians setup in a tumble dryer the project falls all over itself to stand up straight, only to brush off the dust fall all over itself once more. It's quite unforgiving once it gets going. The three-piece of Ezra Chong, Gage Walker and Noah Mortola align, to misalign, to align again. They fall in-and-out of motion like the weather changes faces. 

The 13-minute slowburner that is "Within Crippling Light" closes out the album in ever-winding fashion. A jangly uncertainty hangs heavy. It's slow to gather; but gather it does. It makes its way towards your being one moment at a time. These disorientating wobbles towards tracks end harbour an unsettling air - upset tummies and sheer drops. Intricate aggression. 

Rhododendron are here to stay. Their partnership with The Flenser will be one of abundance in both directions, which will ultimately spill out towards us, the music enjoyer.