Style: Melodic Death/Black Metal, Folk Metal ( mixed vocals)
Review by: Zach
Country: Canada
Release date: 25 February, 2022
For those who don’t know, I too, am a musician. I taught myself to play guitar and bass despite the challenges of my piss poor eyesight, and quickly figured out that I wanted to undertake the (fucking stupid) endeavor of playing tech-death. And what I learned very quickly was I could come up with riffs that sounded great on their own but putting them into songwriting terms was a herculean task. Never mind putting them into terms that any other guitarist beside me could understand. “It’s easy, bro. Just do the 300 BPM trem picks and then comes the sweeps”. Surprise, surprise, playing tech death that sounds good is ridiculously hard.
It gives me a lot of respect for bands like Archspire and First Fragment who make catchy, fun, while equally complex music. And just like every other group of tech-bards out to seek the lost third Necrophagist album that Muhammad D. Suicmez left in “that place”, Fall of Stasis are here to show their stuff to the world. But there’s no “technical” in the style section above. So, why am I over here ranting and raving about the Tech Piece?
Because Fall of Stasis is what happens when you take a pinch of Inferi, add in some Devils of Loudon symphonies and keys, and just a bit of Aether Realm for good measure. They sound like they truly walk the line between melody and technicality, and as such, have a consistently unique sound throughout the album. There was never a riff I would call overwritten or a solo too indulgent.
Fall of Stasis are weird in the way that I can’t quite place their sound anywhere on the spectrum. They’ve like the mish mosh of a million subgenres that all just fit together like the world’s wonkiest puzzle piece. And that wonky, eclectic sound is what made them catch my eye in the first place. Almost bordering on being considered avant-garde without the musical chaos that defines the genre. So, I give my hats off to them in that department. To have such a young band that already has a sound this defined is no small feat.
And while it may seem like a complete whirlwind to those heathens who don’t like their metal blisteringly fast and a little on the odd side, yeah, this album could probably be tiring. The first song, ‘Fall of Stasis’ is probably the best example of my biggest issue with the album. Despite all of its fun and fury, its songwriting flow is where this young band falters. Nearly seven minutes long with so many riffs to churn through, and yet they all felt slapped together. Like this was a mishmash of unused ideas written throughout the album that the band was too proud to let go of.
And due to this setback right at the start of the album, it takes until the fourth track for Fall of Stasis to hit their stride. ‘Baal Arise’ is short and sweet, and really made me ask myself why all the tracks on this album aren’t like this. The one-two punch of this and ‘The Cult’ is where I began to find myself enjoying the album and let out the softest of sighs seeing that every track following was over four minutes.
Now, none of them are quite as overwrought as the band’s namesake track, but every single one of these tracks could’ve been cut down to four minutes and lost nothing in the process. And that makes me sad. Because there are plenty of fist-bumping and jaw-dropping moments on every single one of these tracks that’s marred by the writing. ‘Swarm of Casualties’ and the album’s title track could’ve been amazing if they’d been further combed through in the studio.
Am I going to say I dislike this album? No, more like disappointed. This band has such a unique style and clearly talented musicianship, but they’re in dire need of cohesion in their songs. I was entertained through parts of The Chronologist, but I could’ve easily bumped up this score a few points with a 10-minute cut to the album runtime. However, I wish Fall of Stasis the best, and I’ll be eagerly awaiting album two.
Recommended tracks: Baal Arise, The Cult
Recommended for fans of: Inferi, Aether Realm, Kalmah, Keep of Kalessin
You may also like: Devils of Loudon, Enfold Darkness, Buried Realm
Final verdict: 6.5/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Metal-Archives page
Label: Independent
Fall of Stasis is:
– Jessica Dupre (Vocals)
– Gabriel Bernier (Lead guitars)
– Tristan Bergeron (Rhythm guitars)
– Mathieu Groulx (Bass)
– Sergei Lecours (Drums)
– Melissa Bissonnette (Keyboards)
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