Instrumental prog band Cydemind recently dropped a new song Navyblue, taken from the platformer game Navyblue & the Spectrum Killers ! As a bonus, here’s a playthrough made by their bassist Nico Damoulianos and guitarist Kevin Paquet. The video can be watched below.
In a world where so much music is bland and generic, Cydemind are a breath of fresh air! Mixing progressive rock, jazz, classical, and progressive metal, Cydemind are a special and unique band, one we’ll be hearing a lot more from in the future. Influenced by such bands as Dream Theater, Symphony X, Haken, Neal Morse Band, and jazzmen like Avishai Cohen and Tigran Hamasyan, violinist Olivier Allard describes their sound as “violin meets instrumental prog metal!”.
Prolific artists, Cydemind released ‘Through Mists and Ages’ in 2014 and their single ‘What Remains’ in 2015, and the quintet (violin, bass, piano, guitar, drums) have released their first full-length album in May 2017. Entitled ‘Erosion’, its six tracks are centered around the theme of nature and its persistence through time. Epic is the word here, with one track clocking in at an impressive 27 minutes. The press is unanimous :
“presented what will easily be among the top prog metal albums of the year…” – Metal Underground
“Cydemind have an excellent album on their hands with “Erosion.”” – Progressive Music Planet
“Out of Montreal, Quebec, Canada could be the next big musical act in the world of instrumental progressive metal, and that band is known as Cydemind” – Muen Magazine
”Everything a person could want in his or her progressive metal is contained within the album’s six tracks. Heavy, complex riffs? Check. Knotty, constantly-shifting time signatures? Check. Shreddy solos? Double check. Winding, non-linear song structures? Epic track lengths? Uplifting melodies? Check, check, and check. And then there’s that violin. It’s pretty clear from the first few notes that Olivier Allard has classical training, because he attacks his instrument like Yngwie Malmsteen with a bow.”
To further the creative emersion of ‘Erosion’, the album’s booklet contains lyrical poems written by pianist Camille Delage, which describe each music piece; a unique and pleasing concept. The presence of the grand piano throughout the album also adds a classical music sound along with violin instead of voice. This is progressive music for the 21st Century!
‘Erosion’ is available on Bandcamp, iTunes, Amazon, Spotify and all major online retailers!
The band consists of: Olivier Allard – Violins, Camille Delage – Keyboards, Kevin Paquet – Guitars, Nico Damoulianos – Bass, Alexandre Dagenais – Drums
Weblinks: Facebook / Bandcamp / Website / Instagram
Playthrough video for ‘Navyblue’