{"id":428,"date":"2026-03-05T11:52:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T01:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ambientden.com\/?p=428"},"modified":"2026-03-05T11:52:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T01:52:12","slug":"2025-08-28-prog-censor-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ambientden.com\/?p=428","title":{"rendered":"2025-08-28 – Prog Censor (Review)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/progcensor\/posts\/pfbid0EhFYUmgG3kkVZhDPmy4jYuTnX9dQg8VWqRHCyJ4GjVpDAFtPeHbqcgTajXzGxD8Tl<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ben Craven, a talented composer, is best known thanks to Roger Dean’s 2011 album cover. He crafts symphonic progressive rock, drawing inspiration from bands like Focus, Caravan, Nektar, Can, Yes, Genesis, and Pink Floyd. Ambient Den is his new epic prog project, featuring Tim Bennetts and Dean Povey (an anagram of their first names). It began as a jam session and culminated in a Floydian sound. The result is an atmospheric, cinematic concept album exploring the science fiction beloved by prog fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Future History Part 1” opens with a smooth, cinematic takeoff, a stratospheric guitar solo over an ethereal drum kit. “For All Mankind” takes off weightlessly, Ben’s vibrant guitar and velvety synths inviting you to dream of dreamlike landscapes. Melodic synth-prog with a nod to UPF or even The Samurai of Prog. A symphonic, airy atmosphere, reminiscent of Pink Floyd from both periods, had they continued. The dynamic 7\/8 time signature, metaphorical lyrics about the current world, offering hope for a better future. The catchy chorus is an added bonus to this space rock anthem. “Provenance” bursts in with Ben manipulating his guitar for the spacey, bluesy instrumental; the metronomic melody, like autopilot, propels the track into the musical exosphere where every silent note exudes beauty, like Bennetts’ crystalline piano guided by the drums. “Earthrise” follows, with a rhythm reminiscent of Pink Floyd from the ’80s and ’90s; soft vocals, a haughty air, with the acoustic guitar lingering for a moment on the reverberating sound. The track then launches into a slide solo, notes bursting forth from all directions, overwhelming the prog fan yearning for something new. An acoustic outro closes this musical anthology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Terraforming” as the final project, with Ben manhandling his instrument, nodding towards the great Gilmour. The piano and then the acoustic guitar slip in for a duet with warm backing vocals, Povey’s drum kit holding the line before letting the Genesis organ swell and explode into a constellation of neutron-like star-notes. A break on “Meddle” rises, furious, groovy, electric, and apocalyptic with Ben’s return. The jam is tamed, the track settles midway, embarking on a winding path, an Olympian celestial journey, a wormhole to reach the zenith, the musical firmament. The solemn outro completes the emotional impact. “Future History Part 2” stands out with the addition of the saxophone, infusing it with a danceable feel, the funky whispered vocals reinforcing the atmosphere in this direction. The second instrumental part has the feel of a controlled and restrained jam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a bonus, 4 of the 6 tracks are single edit versions to get to the point; personally, I believe that it is with the longer classic tracks that one can truly appreciate the musical quality of this opus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ambient Den, a sound of hope, bubbling melodies reminiscent of Pink Floyd and Genesis, as if they had continued their legacy. The echoes of Hawkwind and Eloy’s psychedelic space sound abound, the story of a new world subtly amplifying the hopeful musical notes. Ben shares his playground, and the result is more rounded, more direct, and very pleasant to listen to, encouraging deep immersion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brutus<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Original:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ben Craven compositeur talentueux, connu gr\u00e2ce \u00e0 Roger Dean pour sa pochette de 2011. Il distille du rock prog symphonique citant Focus, Caravan, Nektar, Can, Yes, Genesis et Pink Floyd comme r\u00e9f\u00e9rences. Ambient Den est le nouveau projet de prog \u00e9pique entour\u00e9 de Tim Bennetts et Dean Povey, anagramme des pr\u00e9noms, d\u00e9but\u00e9 en jam sessions pour se finaliser sur un son floydien. Un album cin\u00e9matique concept atmosph\u00e9rique sur la S-F tant ador\u00e9e des progueux.
\u00abFuture History Part1\u00bb en intro d\u00e9collage cin\u00e9matique en douceur, un solo guitare stratosph\u00e9rique sur un kit a\u00e9rien. \u00abFor All Mankind\u00bb part en apesanteur, guitare vibrante de Ben et synth\u00e9s velout\u00e9s invitant \u00e0 r\u00eaver de paysages oniriques. Du prog synth\u00e9 m\u00e9lodique lorgnant UPF voire The Samurai Of Prog. Un climat symphonique, a\u00e9rien, fleurant Pink Floyd des deux p\u00e9riodes s\u2019ils avaient continu\u00e9. Le son dynamique en 7\/8, des textes m\u00e9taphoriques sur le monde actuel, pour esp\u00e9rer le voir meilleur. Le refrain ent\u00eatant est un plus d\u2019hymne rock spatial. \u00abProvenance\u00bb d\u00e9boule avec Ben triturant sa guitare pour l\u2019instrumental spatial \u00e0 relent bluesy; l\u2019air m\u00e9tronomique tel un pilotage automatique am\u00e8ne le titre sur l\u2019exosph\u00e8re musicale d\u2019o\u00f9 chaque note silencieuse ne d\u00e9gage que beaut\u00e9 comme le piano cristallin de Bennetts guid\u00e9 par la batterie. \u00abEarthrise\u00bb encha\u00eene, rythmique typ\u00e9e du Floyd des 80-90; vocal soft, air hautain avec l\u2019acoustique guitare s\u2019accrochant un temps sur l\u2019air r\u00e9verb\u00e9rant. Le morceau part en solo slide, notes gicl\u00e9es de toutes parts terrassant le progueux en mal de nouveaut\u00e9. Outro acoustique refermant ce vol musical d\u2019anthologie.
\u00abTerraforming\u00bb comme projet final avec Ben malmenant son instrument, lorgnant vers le grand Gilmour. Le piano puis l\u2019acoustique se glissent pour un duo aux ch\u0153urs chaleureux, le kit de Povey contr\u00f4lant avant de laisser l\u2019orgue g\u00e9n\u00e9sisien enfler et exploser en une constellation d\u2019\u00e9toiles-notes \u00e0 neutron. Un break sur \u00abMeddle\u00bb montant, furieux, groovy, \u00e9lectrique et apocalyptique avec le retour de Ben. Le jam est dompt\u00e9, le morceau se pose \u00e0 mi-parcours, partant sur une piste tortueuse, une voie c\u00e9leste olympienne, un trou de ver pour atteindre le z\u00e9nith, le firmament musical. L\u2019outro solennelle ach\u00e8ve d\u2019\u00e9mouvoir. \u00abFuture History Part 2\u00bb d\u00e9note par l\u2019apport du saxo insufflant un air dansant, le vocal susurr\u00e9 funky confortant l\u2019ambiance dans ce sens. La seconde partie instrumentale fleure le jam contr\u00f4l\u00e9 et contenu.
En bonus, 4 des 6 morceaux en version single edit pour aller \u00e0 l\u2019essentiel; personnellement, je crois que c\u2019est avec les titres classiques plus longs que l\u2019on peut v\u00e9ritablement se rendre compte de la qualit\u00e9 musicale de cet opus.
Ambient Den, un son d\u2019espoir, des m\u00e9lodies bouillonnantes lorgnant du c\u00f4t\u00e9 de Pink Floyd et de Genesis comme s\u2019ils avaient continu\u00e9. Les r\u00e9miniscences sont nombreuses sur le son spatial psych\u00e9 d\u2019Hawkwind et Eloy, l\u2019histoire d\u2019une nouvelle terre en filigrane amplifiant les notes musicales d\u2019espoir. Ben partage son terrain de jeu et le r\u00e9sultat est plus arrondi, plus rentre-dedans, tr\u00e8s agr\u00e9able \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9coute incitant \u00e0 l\u2019immersion profonde.
Brutus
Bandcamp: https:\/\/ambientden.bandcamp.com\/album\/ambient-den
YouTube: https:\/\/youtu.be\/-2PVN5KDuRg<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/progcensor\/posts\/pfbid0EhFYUmgG3kkVZhDPmy4jYuTnX9dQg8VWqRHCyJ4GjVpDAFtPeHbqcgTajXzGxD8Tl Translation: Ben Craven, a talented composer, is best known thanks to Roger Dean’s 2011 album cover. He crafts symphonic progressive rock, drawing inspiration from bands like Focus, Caravan, Nektar, Can, Yes, Genesis, and Pink Floyd. Ambient Den is his new epic prog project, featuring Tim Bennetts and Dean Povey (an anagram of their first… Read More »2025-08-28 – Prog Censor (Review)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":429,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ambientden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ambientden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ambientden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ambientden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ambientden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=428"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ambientden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":430,"href":"https:\/\/www.ambientden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428\/revisions\/430"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ambientden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ambientden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ambientden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ambientden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}