This would appear to be the debut of the French technical death metal trio comprising of Eloi Nicod (Guitars, Composition), Mathieu Lefevre (Vocals) and Clement Denys (Drums). Their bio is pretty sparse of information, so I can’t really tell you much more about the band, but musically the album is well worth diving into, as it refuses to be bland by constantly changing feel and tempo.
It opens with “Elevation”, a short instrumental which has the feel of an orchestra tuning up and getting ready to blast off from there.
However, they go from the blasting into a rather subdued start for “Cosmic Flow”, until the vocals come in with the manic drumming following suit, even if the guitars are slightly less intense, which they make up for in heaviness instead.
Scott Carstairs (Fallujah) does a guest lead solo on “Ink Shadow”, which fits perfectly in the hyper aggressive song with low growls and plenty of blast beats, even if the riffs manage to encompass some rather melodic breakdowns along the way.
I’m not sure how, but somehow, they manage to make the blasting on “Celestial Existence” appear more melodic than when they aren’t blasting frantically behind the coarse roars.
“Mirror Cognition” is almost jazzy and whimsical in its atmospheric build up with beautiful bass work and reminds me a little of bleak sequences used in Blade Runner, while Mark Garrett’s guest vocals allow for almost black metal screaming as the song nears its end.
The sonic wall that is “Poisoned Fruit” has the layers of guitars over the booming bass while the rapid-fire drumming also has a gentleness to the technical proficiency making it sound effortless even though it most certainly cannot be.
Keeping the pace rather high, “Azimuth” works through several movements with rapidly spat out vocals over punchy guitar riffs, over the mellower bridges Enlia’s female choral vocals merge atmospherically with the guitars rather than stand out as a separate entity.
The opening 15s belie the speed “Beyond The Veil Of Consciousness” is going to jump to and maintain for 5 minutes, as the drums never relent even while the guitars meander for the lead breaks, and the haunting ethereal vocals whisper.
“Ouroboros” feels like a build up for a battle with piano being pounded as violins slowly build behind it and the drums, before flowing into “Coagulative Matter” where Tommy Bonnevialle’s piano solo wraps up the 11-minute opus, as the multiple flowing leads break it up.
The album ends with the gentle “Somnambulation” where all manner of sci-fi sounds are added over the low background hum to ease its passing.
They even have a couple videos to go with some of the tracks above and they actually add to the mood of the music and I think are worth watching.
(8/10 Marco Gaminara)
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