L-R – Camille Delage (piano and keyboards), Kevin Paquet (guitars), Olivier Allard (Violin), Nico Damoulianos (Bass), Alexandre Dagenais (Drummer)
CYDEMIND’S Sophomore Album “The Descent” Is Out Now!
I will be honest, prog metal instrumental bands aren’t usually my flavor. With that being said I was pleasantly surprised by CYDEMIDE’S new album The Descent. This album really pulled me in! Its a gorgeous symphony of metal meets classical. Its music for refined taste.
The violin – centric band is an immersive experience like no other. Their sound is a fusion of metal and classical meets renaissance. I hear similarities akin to horror film scores with a twist thats both ancient and modern. The diverse instrumentation canvased with a metal backdrop blends well. Even though they’re a modern prog metal band they have an old world feel and sound which conjures imagery of Anne Rice’s vampire chronicles. Their music is full of thought provoking emotion.
Olivier Allard’s doctorate degree violin performance is hauntingly beautiful alongside Camille Delage’s artful Phantom of The Opera stylings on the piano. The skilled hands of drummer Alexandre Dagenais blend perfectly with the other musicians and provide the backbone. Nico Damoulianos deep frequency pitch bass playing maintains a steady rhythm. Last but not least there’s Kevin Paquet’s guitar work with melody lines, instrumental fill passages and melodic motifs mixing classical and metal riffs. Although all the musicians contribute to the writing process, the main writers are Oliver Allard and Kevin Paquet. The bottom line is the music is brilliant and intriguing.
Montreal, Canada’s Cydemind’s sophomore album “The Descent” is due out on Friday, November 4th, 2022 to follow their highly praised 2017 debut album “Erosion”, which was produced by Christian Donaldson.
“With Erosion, we were young and were still trying to define our own sound, which is why we previously chose producer Chris Donaldson (Cryptopsy, The Agonist, Beyond Creation), who had considerable experience under his belt. This time around, the band has made a decision to lean toward self-production. Although we’ve encountered obstacles along the way, as well as significant delays, we couldn’t be prouder of the final product.” says drummer Alexander Dagenais.
“The Descent” is seven new songs created for a listening experience that’s just under 60 minutes and meant to be heard from beginning to end. Cydemind presents the album to be heard on multiple listens to capture the recurrent themes, sometimes hidden, sometimes obvious, but in the end, the band really wants to reward prog fans to dive into the concept of the record ranging from obsessions and the abysses into which the human mind can plunge itself into.
Kevin Paquet explains further:
“Structurally, the album really represents a descent into hell. The first track, Obsessions, acts as an opening. There are rhythmic and melodic motifs from each track on the album. The opening melody acts a bit like the leitmotif of the obsession (whichever it is) and comes up several times throughout the album. Subsequently, the album continues with Hoax, which incorporates several elements of funk. As the name suggests, you should not expect the album to respect that tone; on the contrary, the music gradually turns into something much darker and complex.”
Commented by such outlets as TheProgSpace “Cydemind “Breach” The Walls of Normality With Next Violin Prog Metal Single” and Everything IS Noise “There Isn’t Any “Hoax” in the Quality of the Latest Cydemind Single”, Cydemind‘s new album definitely brings the band to another level in terms of writing and playing, and they’re pretty confident their fans, new and old will think the same. Compared to their first full-length “Erosion”, which was mainly focused around metal. The Descent explores new colors within the metal genre as well as integrates new styles and sounds.
The main songwriters for “The Descent” were Kevin Paquet (guitars) and Olivier Allard (Violin), but as a unit, all members still discussed with each other, making sure everyone’s input was satisfied. When the songs were done, drummer Dage (Alexandre Dagenais) creates his parts on top of everything.
Recommended for fans of prog bands and artists like Dream Theater, Symphony X, Haken, Tigran Hamasyan, and Avishai Cohen, Cydemind’s new album “The Descent” will be out on November 4th, 2022.
The album was mixed by Simon L’Espérance (Karcius) and mastered by Tony Lindgren (Fascination Street Studios). The cover art for the album was created by Alexander Dagenais.
Album Order – https://cydemind.bandcamp.com
Singles:
Hoax – Music Video – https://youtu.be/WVZO2-gig6w
Breach – Music Video – https://youtu.be/M72GMAKHoF8
Show Dates:
November 18 – Montreal, QC – Theatre Plaza – Info (Album Launch Show w/ Karcius)
Cover Art By Alexander Dagenais
Track Listing:
1. Obsessions – 8:56
2. Hoax – 6:11
3. Breach – 5:00
4. Call Of The Void – 8:25
5. Hemlock -13:44
6. Slumber – 4:30
7. The Last Stone – 12:17
Album Length: 59:06
Cydemind is:
Olivier Allard (Violins)
Alexandre Dagenais (Drums)
Camille Delage (Keyboards/Piano)
Nico Damoulianos (Bass)
Kevin Paquet (Guitars)
For more info:
http://www.cydemind.com
http://www.facebook.com/
http://www.instagram.com/
“Violin metal shredders, Cydemind, has just released a beautiful new video for their “Winter” single, using the gorgeous backdrop of Quebec, Canada. The neo-classical prog track showcases the amazing abilities of this young band on the rise, with captivating hooks that’ll leave you awestruck and hitting up their Bandcamp page for more!” – Metal Injection
“The instrumental band puts the violin front and center, which is strange (if not unheard of) in and of itself. They’ve also released a sweet cover of Vivaldi’s “L’inverno” (“Winter”), from The Four Seasons, which is definitely the first time in the 12+ years of MetalSucks that we’ve had to type that sentence… and they’ve done so when we’re just about a week away from the first day of spring, which was a ballsy decision. And on top of all of that, they made a really, really beautiful video for the track out on the frozen tundras of Québec. Do they have tundras in Québec? Whatever. The video looks really cool. Also, cold. I got mild frostbite just watching it.” – Metal Sucks
“presented what will easily be among the top prog metal albums of the year…” – Metal Underground
“An epic album in every sense of the word” – Games, Brrraaains & A Head-Banging Life
“Cydemind have shown me two things on this debut album: they’re damn good musicians, and they have the ability to write compelling music that sticks with you. ” – Angry Metal Guy
