Style: Zany Progressive Metal (Mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: early Devin Townsend
Review by: Christopher
Country: France
Release date: 23 September, 2022
Making an album is an expensive affair. First you’ve got to buy your instrument, and they ain’t cheap. Lessons are another expense. Then, accessories—sticks, straps, booze—and you start upgrading your equipment: new pedals, better amps, more cowbell. Once you’ve got a band together and written an album you’ve got studio and recording expenses to deal with, mixers and producers, bassists and groupies to pay. Then you’ve got to negotiate distribution if you’re doing a physical release, and what about merchandising? It all adds up, and, let’s be honest, making music can be prohibitively expensive especially for small artists.
Fortunately, fans are a dedicated bunch, and it’s by dint of them that we have Helios, the sophomore release from SPHERES, which follows hot on the heels of their debut IONO. Crowdfunding allowed this French group, led by songwriter/vocalist/guitarist Jonathan Lino, to bring a new collection of zany tracks to their clearly adoring fans. Describing SPHERES isn’t an easy task: there’s a palpable early Devin Townsend influence, hints of thrash and melodeath, but with a big trad prog contribution painted in shades of synth. It’s fair to say that SPHERES have forged their own niche.
Helios has a rather satisfying sense of flow; songs evolve naturally, and all feel a part of the greater whole. The synth sounds like it’s been ripped straight from the soundtrack of a dozen low-budget, eighties action movies, and is very much a dominating presence throughout—it’s potentially the defining facet of SPHERES’ sound, ably plugging away in the background and cementing the spacey atmosphere that consistently backs the compositions. The guitar work has its moments, especially in solos, but mostly it feels very much like its quietly keeping the rhythm going; Lino, the synth, and the varied drumming are the main actors here.
Lino’s vocals require discussion because he simultaneously manages to be SPHERES’ greatest asset and biggest flaw. Lino has range, and I quite like his gruff, phlegmatic cleans which form the bulk of the vocal performance (oddly, the nearest comparison I can muster is that of prog stoners Boss Keloid), and his harshes tend toward higher screams with an early Devin timbre that work well. However, other vocal experiments don’t necessarily pay off: the overcooked harsh vocals that open the album are hard on the ear, the high-toned, nasal cleans he occasionally leans into aren’t especially endearing, and the occasional spoken word sections have mixed results. Lino has a powerful and wide-ranging vocal style but he might do better to stick to his strengths and discipline his sometimes unruly voice.
There are compositional experiments in here too that are a delight: the enormous choral section in “Pandemia” cements that song as the album’s crown jewel (aided by the fact that it plays to Lino’s vocal strengths). The throat-sung break on “Spiritual Journey” gives an eastern flavour to proceedings, and “Running Man” goes quite mad with Lino unleashing ludicrous falsetto calls to a choral response and the most dramatically French spoken word you ever did hear. Indeed, “Running Man” is just outright ludicrous but it carries off its campy madness so well that I can’t really fault it. Then again, I am quite forgiving of being as boldly cringe as possible without due regard for your audience’s second-hand embarrassment, so perhaps I’m a bad judge on this point.
SPHERES are a weird, bold, and entertaining band, and I completely understand why their small, dedicated fan base love them so. Helios is a flawed yet endearing record; a scrappy work of strange progressive metal that I’m sure will satisfy the fans who backed them, and attract more into the fray. SPHERES’ sound is niche, but Lino and company wear it well and create a fun listening experience that any lover of weirder prog should absolutely give a chance.
Recommended tracks: Spiritual Journey, Running Man, Pandemia
You may also like: Cognos, Boss Keloid, Obsidian Kingdom
Final verdict: 6.5/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram
Label: M&O Music – Website | Facebook
SPHERES is:
– Jonathan Lino (vocals, guitar)
– Olivier Moreau (guitar, backing vocals)
– Clémence Santé (bass)
– Jesse Haddad (drums)
– Marco Walczak (keyboards)
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