Ascension  /  (release date - July / 1999)

Ascension is the third and final cd in what is being called the OFD trilogy. It is currently in production and is taking longer than I thought LOL! There are as of now 7 songs. I have posted some of the artwork for the insert and the cover image. I will post more info on the progress of the cd and the graphics over the next month or so. The cd release is looking like end of June/beg of July. A cd entitled "Ascension Demos" was sent out in June to a select group of Synthomaniacs.

I did this image in Bryce 2.0 and I thought it would be the inside of the cd insert, but I have since done some variations of the image because they seemed to print better. The concept of Ascension has pretty much come into focus for me these last few weeks, and the religous aspect is just one theme on the cd. Those of you who have been listening since OFD have heard me talk about what both OFD and 11/1 represent in terms of my musical growth and the entire OFD project.

The picture of Alien Guy in the water was taken by my brother Tom and will be the cover artwork. This picture was taken off of I-5 to Elk Grove. It was about 4:00 in the afternoon and the park ranger had just asked us what the hell we were doing. After we told him we were bird watching, he finally split. I then became Alien Guy and waded out into the water. The lady who had been giving me weird looks as I ran down the road in my suit earlier, happened to walk by as I was posing for these shots.

The location was right off the highway and I wonder how many people driving by did double takes?
I did look a bit out of place. My brother Tom took some great shots and he captured the vision I had in my mind quite nicely on film.

A very young and innocent Synthuser? I used three variations of this graphic on the cd insert as well.

This graphic is a variation on the above Bryce image. It is on the inside of the cd insert.

This graphic is the background for the cd label and is also used on the liner notes page of the cd insert.

The films that may be used on Ascension songs (samples still a work in process)

Barrabas -
The Robe -
The Prophecy -
Cleopatra -
Restoration -
Into Thin Air: Death On Everest -
Apollo 13 -

Ascension Demos / (June / 1999)
Some of the Synthomaniacs received a cd of demo versions of the songs for Ascension. The songs were rough mixes and minus fade outs and any samples. The Ascension cd has been the hardest of the three cds to kick out of the nest. I have listened to it way too many times, played with the song order and labored over song titles and what samples I would finally use. I wanted to take some musical baby steps I guess, so I sent out the demo cd to a few of you. The reponses have been welcomed and have made me think even harder about the music on this cd. The song "One Small Step" was left off the cd as a result of this deeper evaluation process. I may include it in a B-sides release for X-mas, along with some tunes that were left off of both OFD and 11/1 as well.