by Thom JurekThe sticker on the front claims,"The long-awaited new album." The question is, by whom? On The Ascension, Otep Shamaya and her cohorts fool a bit with texture, trying to create a sense of dynamic tension on songs like"Crooked Spoons,""Noose & Nail," and"Perfectly Flawed," but usually end up in the same place: with some blend of post-rock and new and industrial metal. It's of little consequence, because the pummel and punish with age-old riffs and competent but unimaginative bashing saturate the band's"songs." To be fair, there are some other attempts here, such as the long balladic reach of"Invisible" and the creepy-crawler metal of"Communion." But even these tracks descend into the tried and true -- and therefore quite boring -- trademark Otep sound. Given that it's been three years since House of Secrets, one would have hoped that, while capitalizing on their strengths as a band, Otep would have progressed somehow musically and extended their ambition and aesthetic reach a bit further. Alas, it's not so.