Jesu – Ascension (2011/2018)

October 10, 2021

I’ve always wanted to like Ascension but I’ve always found the mix to be impenetrable. Outside of opening track “Fools” I’ve found the whole thing blurs together into one forgettable haze. I can’t be the only one who had thoughts similar to this, as a completely new mix has been released by the man himself, JK Broadrick. It’s called a remaster but they clearly went back to the drawing board on this one. I know as well there was some label problems too at the time with the original release of Ascension, so it was a strange time really, for Jesu.

Thankfully, Justin’s second go at Ascension is much, much clearer. Things sound remarkably different, and you can at least make your way through the entire album knowing the individual tracks that you’ve heard. There is some definition at last! Honestly, I’m not a mess with the original kinda guy, but this treatment was long overdue, and will hopefully give new life to this underdog of a Jesu album.