High Wolf’s “Ascension” is just what the witchdoctor ordered. The great chief, High Wolf, hunted after some seriously untamed, totally wild psychedelic sounds and came back triumphantly with his game. This LP serves as a cage to house his captured beasts and a spin on the turntable gives you complete access to this tribal zoo. High Wolf proves himself to be quite a successful hunter of savage tracks with this little collection. A beautiful kaleidoscopic display of trippy art was screened on the front and back jackets. A record that honestly shows its colors without any apologies.

I’ve heard both High Wolf’s self-titled and “Incapulco” CDrs. Those were both amazing discs. If you can find them, snatch them up. But, “Ascension” seems like a mature step forward. It seemed like those earlier works were more diverse, boisterous, and experimental with their tracks. This one seems like a more thought-out and deliberate cohesive whole, whereas the other releases seemed much more like collections of individual one-shot tracks. It was almost as though the artist was really exploring his options with what kind of art he could create. All good tracks, mind you. But, it seems as though they were a bunch of single tracks recorded for their own sake. They were each slotted into the album, making it a fun listen but without begging you to listen to the album from start to finish. “Ascension” seems like the bigger picture was in view and each track was meant to be a slice of a larger whole, one that is greater than the sum of its parts. “Ascension” is precisely a refined, time-tested, and established ritual, calling you to let yourself go and become a part of its vast mystical splendor.

When I heard this guy was coming out on vinyl I was thrilled to say the least. After hearing this, it was even better than I expected. In short, uplifting, soul-quenching, and awakening. One of the best purely psych albums I’ve heard all year! 8/10 -- Dave Miller (25 August, 2010)