Ambient Den - 2025 - Ambient Den

(66:00; Desert Comb Music)






















What we have here is the debut album from Australian trio Ambient Den, who are Ben Craven (guitars, bass, programming, vocals), Tim Bennetts (piano, keyboards, vocals) and  Dean Povey (drums, vocals). Even before playing this I noticed something strange about this release, as while it is not unusual to have a “single edit” as a bonus cut, here we have four. Given the rest of the album is only six tracks in length, and the first one is a short introduction, this does seem a little bit like overkill but only the cynic would suggest this is a way of extending a six-track to a 10-track album lasting 67 minutes, even if 19 minutes of that is “bonus material”.

It's a shame as I would definitely have liked to have heard more, as what we have here are a band who have been very influenced by classic Pink Floyd, but with more crossover and commercial elements. Again we have a very modern production, so it feels like we are being hit by a wall of sound as opposed to individuality, but the guitar solos have been lifted above the rest and that cut through works very well indeed. Those solos are often more Neo in approach than what we might expect from Gilmour, but Craven does also go down that route when he wishes. When the band utilise less over the top compression and allow more space in their music, such as on “Provenance” then they come through with far more power and one can imagine them playing this on a stage where they are being washed in different colour spotlights and the audience in a state of rapture. This is for me the standout track of the album, climactic and powerful, showing just how piano and electric guitar can interact with poise and grace. One of the finest instrumentals I have heard this year. It leads nicely into “Earthrise” where they are capturing their best ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ moments.

They show they can also deal with epics, with “Terraforming” breaking the sixteen-minute barrier, commencing with piano and acoustic guitar, which is a nice touch, but it moves and shifts with great drama. Overall this is a very solid debut and I look forward to hearing more while fans of Floyd/Gilmour definitely need to seek this one out.   

Kev Rowland, October 2025

Links:
https://www.ambientden.com/
https://desertcomb.com/

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