Sometimes the FFO section gets the assignment and in this case and on this release they did exactly just that with comparisons to Gojira, Tesseract, and Sleep Token thrown about throughout the press release for Andromeda, the upcoming debut full-length from France’s March Of Scylla. We’d also love to add that this big, badass and beautiful Metal opus encompasses all of that plus the Heady kinda Heavy that artists like Irist and Hippotraktor currently do so well.
“Ulysses’ Lies” crushes to start with the dynamic range of vocalist Florian Vasseur immediately setting the tone and running the gamut vocally in terms of matching the vibrant ferocity and broad atmosphere created by guitarist Christofer Fraisier, bassist Robert Desbiendras, and drummer Gilles Masson. “Death Experience” follows and heightens the intensity with Fraisier’s riffage and Masson’s hits colliding in furious ways as Vasseur croons overhead. Desbiendras’ ominous rumbling begins “The Royal Way” which opens up the March Of Scylla world vastly and continues with the moving soundscape of “To Cassiopeia” that, even taken as an interlude, still elicits a sense of unease despite the atmospheric nature.
“Dark Matter” combines the aesthetics of the previous two offerings into one formidable Metal force, “Storm Dancer” is a shredder and then some, and “BlaAst” is unrelenting with the percussive pummeling and shreddy goodness all around interspersed with moments of grand clarity. “Achilles’ Choice” kicks off with some ferocious vocal stylings out of Vasseur to match the instrumental vim and vigor that surrounds the singer while “Myrrha” is another that, when most might be starting to let up leading to the end, defies expectations with the way the unyielding heaviness continues on in the vein of Gojira’s early brutality combined with the more expansive and dense sound of their recent releases. And, as expected, closer “Cosmogony” is their fiercest, most epic yet bringing those aforementioned big, badass, and beautiful sounds to fruition for one last blast of solid otherworldly Metal!
Andromeda lands on March 7th from Klonosphere Records/Season Of Mist with pre-order and pre-save options up now by heading here or to the stream below. For more from March Of Scylla, head on over to their socials found by clicking here or here.