Review: Deviant Process – Nurture

Style: Technical Death Metal, Progressive Death Metal (harsh vocals)
Review by: Dan
Country: Canada
Release date: 15 October, 2021

Canada’s technical death metal scene fucking rules. I swear, there’s something in that sweet, crisp, glacial water that must burble forth like an endless well of cabin-fever-induced creativity as it makes its way into the homes of those choosing to brave the frigid North. There have been some truly jaw dropping techdeath albums out this year from the likes of Canucks First Fragment and Archspire – bands absolutely at the pinnacle of humankind’s technical chops. I’d also be remiss for not mentioning Iceland’s similarly frigid and equally virtuosic newcomers Ophidian I here, which further bolsters the glacial scapegoating above.

Enter Deviant Process, another talented bunch of fingerwizards from the winterlands north of the border. Of course, I write this a bit tongue-in-cheek as an ignorant American treating everything “up there” as also being frozen, despite the latitude lines clearly placing Quebec City a full 2.1 degrees south of Paris… Let’s drop the geography lesson and get to work on the music, shall we?

Right off the bat, Nurture opens with a track that sets the stage for the rest of the album. Whammy bar laden solos and prominent fretless bass channel palpable Cynic vibes, despite the modernized harshness and somewhat gritty sonic palette. In fact, much of the playing style of nearly every member hearkens back to Focus. I can’t really describe it well in words, but every time I pay attention to a particular instrument for a while, something ends up sounding familiar. I think about it for a bit and, other than a few moments pulled from the Fallujah playbook, I’m invariably led back to Cynic. The tremolo-picked melodies, the bass tone and Malone-esque plucky fingerwork, the whammy bar dives and jazzy harmonies… While there’s far more intensity to the deliciously vicious vocals than Paul Masvidal was ever able to deliver, and the drums are far blastier and heavy, if you stripped those elements away and told me this was a dystopian, alternate-universe reincarnation of the jazz-metal pioneers, I would almost believe it. Almost.

Amassing technical chops and a compelling playing style is one thing, but writing songs is a completely different beast. As compelling and complex as this music is, and despite demonstrating well-above-average dynamics for the genre, I find it succumbs to the fate of many indulgent technical death metal albums: I don’t remember much from it, even after repeated listens. There’s plenty of variation, both in intensity and instrumentation, and it’s kind of impossible to get bored listening through these awe-inspiring performances, but it’s a case where I just want a bit more focus in the riffwriting department. The songs themselves follow enjoyable arcs (that perfectly timed dip in “The Hammer of Dogma” and ensuing crescendo, for example, is particularly noteworthy) and they show decent cohesion between all the parts, but they’re missing some je ne sais quoi for this particular listener’s tastes.

Perhaps it’s because picking out individual riffs is quite challenging, as often the two guitars and bass are all playing completely different things for most of the album. There are exceptions – the harmonized leads at the end of “Homo Homini Deus” are quite nice – but it’s a rare case where the band syncs up and starts playing together instead of off in each of their own little worlds. The various parts are, of course, all quite complementary and the overall deluge of notes is a joyous aural barrage, but none of it sticks, which makes it kind of feel like none of it matters, y’know? The first real riff with any sticking power comes nearly a quarter of the way through the album, and is gone before you’ve had a chance to really digest it. The intricate arrangements on Nurture remind me of A Novelist: a stereo-panned blur of melodic, intertwining, and technically impressive guitarwork unafraid to dabble in major tonalities – but without Ben Nugent’s memorable and emotive clean vocals these songs carry substantially less weight.

I certainly have to credit the performances – again – since the playing on Nurture is just stellar all around. The rich and dynamic vocals, in particular, hold nothing back., and the bass playing is also fantastic. The production on the guitars especially is quite lively and dynamic, and overall, the recordings sound great. Despite a few nitpicks (like how the first song abruptly transitions into an acoustic outro, bringing the song’s mellifluous momentum to a grinding, jarring halt), the album is quite well-produced, with a few tasty electronic inclusions that I’m not mad about, and plenty of little tidbits lurking in the mix. The drums are punchy and tight, but after almost ten listens at this point, I’m not sure I have a whole lot to say about them.

I do think I’ll come back to Nurture though, despite all my gripes, since it’s got great vibes, good energy, and a refreshingly uplifting aura. Maybe the songs will prove more memorable than I thought, but maybe that’s not the intent? Perhaps this is an album best enjoyed lost in the blur in which it comes, notes racing past your earholes with exuberant disregard for what you think of them. It’s certainly easy to appreciate the technical proficiency on display here, and there’s not one bad moment of the whole thing. For that, I give this a solid what-the-fuck-do-I-rate-this-now? out of 10.

Or maybe a seven. Yeahhhh, let’s go with 7.

Recommended tracks: Emergence, Asynchronous, The Hammer of Dogma, Homo Homini Deus
Recommended for fans of: A Novelist, Cynic, First Fragment, Obscura, Beyond Creation
You may also like: Ophidian I, Burial in the Sky, The Beast of Nod
Final verdict: 7/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: Season of Mist – Bandcamp | Website | Facebook

Deviant Process is:
– Jean-Daniel Villeneuve (guitar, vocals)
– Stéphane Simard (guitar, backing vocals)
– Philippe Cimon (bass)
– Michel Bélanger (drums)