Feb 1995 | This Ascension delicately tiptoe along the thin line separating goth, ethereal and ambient. While the songs are too up-tempo for ambient, lack the depth of darkness and swirling atmospheres of goth, and with vocals too powerful for ethereal, still they encompass elements from all three genres. Removed from these genres' constraints, This Ascension's sound is quite distinctive, although Projekt and 4AD groups are obvious influences. Dream, the band's third release, continues down this distinctive path, creating less an atmosphere of despair than a bittersweet aura.

The song titles - "Light and Shade," "Placid," "Sleep" - underline the serentity that This Ascension evoke. But powerful undercurrents ripple through the music, adding depth and power to what would otherwise be a placid experience. The ripples swell into a tidal wave on "Blue Cyberia," with Banshee guitars feeding the typhoon's roar. And it's This Ascension's ability to meld the power of the genre's progenitors with the delicate beauty of ethereal greats that makes Dream such a strong album. Intertwined are lyrics whose seeming simplicity belies their true complexity, intensity, and emotional depth. Only Black Tape For A Blue Girl rivals them.
- Jo-Ann Greene

1995 | Walking the fine line between the gloomy sound of early Mission and the ethereal edge of Xmal Deutschland, This Ascension have cultivated their own happy medium. Setting the stage Dru, their multi-octave front woman, has a voice that sails across orchestrally augmented goth rock tracks like a charcoal swan gliding over a lake of tears. Not only do all of the usual adjectives apply from hauntingly beautiful to darkly captivating, but there are no doubt some more obscure yet extremely positive phrases that should be tacked on, too.