Review Summary: Chthe’ilist go thrash? Hopefully not for the last time.
Metal-wise, one of the more interesting things to happen in the present post-whatever decade would be for a squad of weathered tech death musicians from Quebec to sit down, tune up, raise the mids on the guitars and vox, and mix up some Black Fast, Vektor, Madrost, and Droid with a pinch of Revocation so as to produce a refreshing 40-minute brew of sci-fi themed death/thrash. Lo and behold: fitting just that description is
Lower Form Resistance by the three-piece that is Dissimulator, born from four-piece Chthe'ilist minus Phil Tougas.
From the gut-punching immediacy of opener "Neural Hack" to the final minutes of the concluding title track, Dissimulator's debut maintains a steady mixture of relentless riffs (either the trem-picked or angular kind, or both), functional and/or thought-provoking tempo changes, and lyrical dilemma (man vs machine, robotic sentience, technological doom) delivered in guttural mid-register rasps unless specified otherwise – all this sustained by a powerful bass & rhythm section. It is third track "Outer Phase", however, that gets the album up to its proper momentum, with arpeggiated verse riffs that seem to say ‘Yes, we too have spent our share of rainy days tabbing out Spawn Of Possession songs’ (see also the pinch harmonics in the riffs of the title track for that matter), nice added vocoder flavour in its half-way acceleration, and jazzy chord progressions.
Vocoder/robotic vocals can be a love or hate affair. Here, they fit the vibe and aesthetic of the album well and they are put to useful musical effect on four of the seven tracks. That is also the case on "Automoil & Robotoil", my personal favourite and possibly the most accomplished and diverse piece of the record, both vocally (grunts alternating with cleans, robotics
and gang shouts), rhythmically (interesting tempo variations) and instrumentally (the bass receiving a special spotlight). And what about that track title?
Overall, "Lower Form Resistance" may not be here to change or redefine paradigms - that clearly is not the band's goal on this occasion - but it does offer a highly enjoyable and expertly executed futuristic death/thrash showcase with sound replay value in itself, at the same time leaving us in anticipation as to what else Claude Leduc, Antoine Daigneault and Philippe Boucher might be up to next.
