Author Archives: Dæv Tremblay

Monthly Recommendations – September 2017

by Dæv Tremblay

II II II – Frequency Illusion

What is there to say, honestly? The works presented on this full-length album takes what the band’s debut was all about, but with slightly better production and composition overall. You still get the mathy riffs, the jazzy grooves, and the hardcore-style vocals, but you get more of them, and you get only the best of them.

Mini-review.

Rivener – Rivener

The band definitely borrows a lot from free jazz, but they apply their knowledge of it successfully to experimental and noise rock. Well, maybe it’s just not jazz by omission. Lay down some saxophone

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Archspire – Relentless Mutation

by Dæv Tremblay

Canadian band Archspire surely needs no introduction. With a single album, they defined themselves as the epitome of their genre and a paragon to strive for. That genre is technical death metal – tech-death for short –, and that album was The Lucid Collective, released in 2014. Earlier this month, the Vancouverites released their new album, under the edgy moniker Relentless Mutation. More than simply a follow-up, it’s actually a step up, as incredible as it sounds from a band already seen as over the top as this one. A while ago now, they teased a drum practice … Read more

Five the Hierophant – Over Phlegethon

by Dæv Tremblay

Doom metal comes in all shapes and forms. And, often, the most peculiar of them are the most intriguing. Enters Five the Hierophant, a trio from London that makes doom their very own way. The most striking aspect of the band’s sound is, of course, the use of instruments seldom heard in metal music: djembe, Tibetan horn, violin, saxophone (though this last one is now rather common sight)… Beyond this, they also take a heavy leaning on drone passages, spoken word excerpts, and a natural sense of song progression and structure. All of this can be found on their … Read more

Sutrah – Dunes

by Dæv Tremblay

We covered Montréal-based progressive technical death metal band Sutrah, back when they released their demo, and it seems that our crystal ball was no liar: they are releasing their debut full-length, Dunes (no, they didn’t liked my name suggestion), on 22 September, with pomp and circumstance! Fortunately, only positive changes were brought to the Sutrah formulah. First, obviously, it’s produced with a much higher quality. It feels like a proper product and the result of professional work, and it lets us enjoy the fifty-five minutes of puzzling death metal to the fullest. Secondly, their use of Oriental music … Read more

Coma Cluster Void – Thoughts from a Stone

by Dæv Tremblay



Thoughts from a Stone was actually the first ever teaser released for the Coma Cluster Void experiment, all the way back in 2014. Back then, I suppose it was going to end up on their upcoming full-length, with the slogan “Aural Representation of Pain and Suffering” – Mind Cemeteries –, but the composition probably expanded or reiterated to what it is now: a twenty-two-minute, six-part suite of contemporary death metal. Contemporary? Yeah, I feel that this adjective better suits their sound than the rather narrow definition of “tech-death” or the vague “experimental” and “avant-garde” tags. “Math metal” is a good … Read more