Here's a rather 'unique' one from the Unique Leader Records roster, the Quebec extreme act known as First Fragment. When was the last time you heard a band combine death metal growls (in French no less), '80s styled neo-classical guitar shredding, jazz-fusion & prog influenced bass gymnastics, gorgeous flamenco acoustic passages, and blazing extreme metal drum blasting? Go ahead, keep pondering. Dasein is not your everyday run of the mill death metal album by any means, as one minute the band are blazing through some wild, violent cacophony, as on the title track, before jumping into beautiful, melodic flamenco & hard charging, acrobatic progressive death metal, which you can hear on the eye popping instrumental "L'entité". Phil Tougas & Gabriel Brault-Pilon are a formidable guitar team, weaving plenty of razor sharp, off kilter riffs together, with Tougas handling the blazing leads alongside some guest appearances from current and former members of Spawn Of Possession, Obscura, Inferi, Augury, and Elderoth. Their partner on the bass, Vincent Savary is a monster, lending his muscular, and always melodic style that draws heavily from jazz, prog, and classical to complex tunes such as "Émergence", "Mordêtre Et Dénaissance", and the elastic "Gula". David AB spews his violent hatred throughout, alongside Tougas who also contributes vocals, making for a two headed demon of French venom. Unless you speak the language, you won't know what the hell these two guys are screaming and growling about, but hey, it's mostly about the intricate passages, crushing arrangements, and killer grooves here on Dasein. For pure, neo-classical/progressive death metal shredding, it doesn't get much better than the two-part "Voracité (Apothéose)", as well as "Archétype", with guitars & bass flying all over the place amid jackhammer drumming and raging, maniacal vocals. Lengthy closer "Evhron" is actually in spots a thing of beauty, containing some of the most spectacular guitar playing on the album. If you loved some of the music coming from the Shrapnel Records family in the '80s (Tony MacAlpine, Vinnie Moore, etc) chances are this track, and much of Dasein, will be of major interest to you, and mixing that up with a very progressive death metal framework and some stunning flamenco, and you have a quite different listening experience here from First Fragment that is well worth seeking out.
Track Listing
1. Le Serment De Tsion
2. Dasein
3. L'entité
4. Émergence
5. Mordêtre Et Dénaissance
6. Prélude En Sol Dièse Mineur
7. Archétype
8. Gula
9. Voracité (Apothéose, Partie 1)
10. Psychan (Apothéose, Partie 2)
11. Evhron
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