(written by Islander)
Among the many musical vortices that violently spin in the dangerous straits of extreme metal (the sonic manifestations of Charybdis opposite the smashing rocks on the other side) are numerous bands, living and dead, who’ve actually taken the name Vortex. The one we focus on today (and not for the first time) is a group of seasoned and hard-gigging musicians from remote Rimouski in the Canadian province of Quebec.
The occasion for revisiting them today is the impending release next month of a new five-song EP entitled Alien Realms, and our premiere of a video for a song from the EP named “Haunting the Abyss“.
L-R – Simon Desjardins (Bass), Mathieu Duguay (Guitars, Orchestrations), Alexandre Labrie (Vocals), Dany Lévesque (Guitars), Olivier Harrisson (Drums)
Photo Credit – Giuseppe Calvinisti
Vortex have a history of crafting their releases around conceptual storylines, creating continuous lyrical and musical narratives. They tell us this about the new EP: “The concept behind Alien Realms revolves around humanity venturing into space in search of intelligent life. However, they don’t find exactly what they anticipated, and this sense of unexpected discovery is reflected in the artwork.” As for the music, they sum it up this way:
Alien Realms is a Blackened Death EP that blends massive orchestral elements, soaring epic melodies, and relentless, aggressive riffing. On this new EP, we doubled down on what worked best in our previous album, The Future Remains in Oblivion. If you’re into massive orchestras and melodies blended with aggressive riffs and Blackened Death vocals, then Alien Realms is for you.
The song we’re bringing you today bears out these description — it’s extravagantly multi-faceted, viscerally powerful, and thoroughly captivating.
From the beginning, it swaths the senses in vast, ethereal waves of brilliantly gleaming sound that fluidly crest and fall above hammering drums and a thundering bass, cascading in tones that seem to channel intense distress as the words spill out in scorching blackened screams.
As the narrative continues to unfold, the music briefly brings in grand but menacing orchestration and then savagely crashing and swarming riffage, obliterating drums, and deathly roars, accented by celestial synths. The riffing also pounds and jolts, skitters and slashes, soars and sweeps, and the band augment the head-spinning spectacle with a swirling guitar solo and rapidly rippling piano keys.
They also slow the pace and deliver a brutishly pounding breakdown before sending the melody gloriously into the cosmos again, albeit with a final phase of bludgeoning turmoil and harrowing roars.
The lyrics include these lines: “We traversed the void – Conquered the unknown – But found emptiness – In worlds, we’ve been shown”
And now a word about the video: It’s a mysterious tale, one that might be the imaginings of an inebriated or delusional mind, but might be a visitation of unearthly powers and a fracturing of reality. You’ll see scenes of the band members stripped naked, which they say was filmed “on a frozen lake in the snow… in January at -10C.” That’s dedication! (Or insanity)
VORTEX is:
Simon Desjardins (Bass)
Mathieu Duguay (Guitars, Orchestrations)
Alexandre Labrie (Vocals)
Dany Lévesque (Guitars)
Olivier Harrisson (Drums)
Alien Realms was produced by Pierre Luc Demers and Dany Lévesque. It was engineered, mixed, and mastered by Pierre Luc Demers (Studio Ondechoc). Marc-Antoine Desjardins was an artistic consultant, and the cover art was created by Rudi Gorging Suicide.
The EP will be released on April 11th and comes recommended for fans of Septicflesh, Shadow of Intent, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Dimmu Borgir, and Cradle of Filth. For info about how to get it, follow the links below — and below the links, also give a listen to the EP’s first single, “When Humans Defy the Void“.
We also want to mention that Vortex will soon embark on their Symphony For The Dead Tour of Canada along with XAON and other bands. Here”s the current schedule:
April 15 – Montreal, QC – Le Petit Campus ***
April 16 – Edmundston, NB – Ateepic *
April 17 – Saint John, NB – Haven Music Hall and Cafe *
April 18 – Moncton, MB – Xeroz *
April 19 – Rimouski, QC – Coop Le Paradis *
April 22 – Ottawa, ON – The Rainbow
April 23 – Drummondville, QC – La Ste-Paix ****
April 24 – Quebec City, QC – L’Anti ****
April 25 – Saguenay, QC – Microbrasserie Port-Alfred
April 26 – Trois-Rivieres, QC – L’Entite **
* Omnivide
** Strigampire
*** Ulfhednar
**** Burning Attic
VORTEX LINKS:
https://linktr.ee/vortexband
https://vortex.band/
https://vortexband.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/vortex.band.ca
https://www.instagram.com/vortex.band.ca