Toward the Greater Ideal – One local heavy metal artist shares the ups and downs of the industry, the inspiration behind his new album and the sound that started it all.

 From an early age, Saugus resident Caleb Bingham has been transformed by music. With cascading blond hair, black leather clothes and heavy silver rings, he wears his genre on and off stage because, to Caleb, heavy metal has long represented a way to explore ideas, sounds and songwriting through a medium that feels authentic and meaningful.  Whether he’s performing, producing music or hanging out with friends, metal is inherently intertwined with Caleb’s life.
“Heavy metal provides a voice to the voiceless, hope to the hopeless and a banner that all who live or believe differently than the status quo can unite under,” Caleb said.  “This is why I have always been drawn to this music.”
Caleb’s love affair with music started young.
“I’ve kind of been at it my whole life,” Caleb said.  “My mom forced me into playing, and as a kid it felt like a chore.  In hindsight, I’m very grateful for it.”
Caleb started with piano, which provided an excellent foundation for music and theory, before moving on to voice training with local teacher Kris Feldman.
“I picked up the guitar after hearing Jimi Hendrix for the first time,” Caleb recalled.  “I’d never heard anyone make those sounds on a guitar, and I thought: ‘I have to learn how to do this.’  That was the end of that.”
As Caleb explored theory, genre and style, he was pulled more and more toward hard rock, punk and heavy metal.  During his junior year in high school, Caleb formed his first band: Ascension.
“It was intriguing to me – the idea of a continual procession toward a greater ideal,” Caleb said of the band name’s meaning.
A guitarist, singer and songwriter, Caleb began writing and recording his own material, producing arena/black/thrash metal.  He played shows locally and developed a following among his peers.  Soon, he was passing out demos on the Sunset strip.
“I made up my mind that this was what I wanted to do with my life,” Caleb said.
Just after graduation, Caleb was called to audition for Five Finger Death Punch, who went on to become one of the biggest current bands in the heavy metal genre.  He got it.  In 2007, they were signed to a major label.
“I could tell these guys were really serious.  They were these seasoned pros, much older cats, who had been touring with another band prior to forming this one,” Caleb said.
The experience was great, but eventually, Caleb was cut from the band – too green.  Plus, a 19-year-old guitarist didn’t make the rest of the band look any younger.
“They are one of the biggest selling acts of the past decade in the heavy metal genre,” Caleb said.  “It was frustrating.  I just wanted to do it – to move out and get signed and tour the world.”
Though Caleb missed out on Five Finger Death Punch, the opportunity pushed him to reform his own band.  Caleb recorded anther demo, and as a result, Ascension nearly signed to a well-known metal label, Roadrunner Records.  Typical of the roller-coaster industry, the label was bought out by a larger one just before things got off the ground, and Caleb’s big shot seemed quashed once again.
“It was a bit of a letdown, and hard to take, after you put so much into it,” Caleb said.  “So I shelved my own band once again.”
Another opportunity quickly swept him up.  Playing lead guitar, Caleb toured with Swedish death metal band Zonaria, performing all throughout Europe, Scandinavia and the UK.
“I definitely didn’t get rich doing it, but I’ve traveled 95 percent of Europe,” Caleb said.  “I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”
The tour came to an end for Caleb after a freak accident.  While he was helping the band build a studio, he fell through a water-damaged roof, crashing to the concrete floor one story below.  With a broken leg and expensive medical bills, Caleb returned home to start again.
More serious than ever, Caleb returned to his own music.  He recruited another Santa Clarita native, Brandon Miller, and reformed Ascension for a third time.
“Playing my own music, music that I’ve written, is a hugely positive thing for me,” Caleb said.
This past fall, Ascension went on tour for the first time, realizing a lifelong dream of Caleb’s.  The tour took them across the country, and the experience was huge for Caleb.
“I got to meet people who have been fans of the band through the Internet, some of them for 10 years,” Caleb said.  “They’d been waiting for us to come and play for a lot of years, and to put faces with some of the names was really special.”
The tour was a success.
“On one hand, it’s a huge relief to finally have gotten the band a bit more off the ground,” he said.  “But at the same time, it’s a lot of pressure because I really have to level down.”
Ascension’s upcoming album, The Order of the Silver Compass, was inspired by his own family’s possible Free Masonic background, which he discovered after finding the group’s symbols carved into his grandparents’ tombstones.
“It got me wondering about the history, the religious and political undertones, the multiple interpretations of those symbols,” Caleb said.  “I liked the double meanings and the roots in ancient history.  People typically associate many of those symbols with negative things, and it’s great to confront the taboos and mystique around them when given the opportunity.”
To delve into Ascension’s next album, however, fans will have to wait a little while longer.  The band aims to release the album this year, but is waiting for the right label to help take them to the next level.
“We’re just so thankful to everyone who has consistently been supportive of Ascension over the past decade,” Caleb said.  “Stay tuned for The Order of the Silver Compass!”
For more information about the next album, please visit the www.theorderofthesilvercompass.com.  Follow Ascension on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AscensionMetal, Instagram at @VoiceofAscension and Twitter at @AscensionMetal. 

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