Art by Erskine Designs
Style: Progressive metal, death metal, black metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Ne Obliviscaris, Opeth, Insomnium, the usual suspects of prog death
Country: Canada
Release date: 28 March, 2025
To have flaws is to be human. The pursuit of a perfect art is fruitless and always ends in frustration (see Wintersun). Every one of my favorite pieces of art has flaws, whether it be written, recorded, or programmed, and sometimes, especially in the case of the masterwork of cinema that is Kung Pow! Enter The Fist, its flaws elevate. The pursuit of perfection brought on by automation and the proliferation of AI is a futile one that will end with safe, squeaky clean art. No risk means no reward, after all, and starting a progressive death metal band amidst a million others is for sure a risk in and of itself. You either need to be an established name or work your ass off, honing your craft every step of the way to rise above the Bandcamp wastes. Or, you could just be picked up by a blog run by weirdos.
Symbiotic Growth are still children in this field. Their first full length, released in 2020, showcased a trio whose game placed an emphasis on atmosphere. The self-titled LP sounds like its album cover. Ethereal in nature, murky riffs and atmospherics, a strange, slightly muffled production choice that I can only chalk up to inexperience. However, it showcases a trio with a fair share of talent and ambition, creating sprawling songs that only overstay their welcome by a minute or so. Despite the slightly ridiculous song lengths on their self-titled, it’s a fairly breezy, forty-minute experience. A neat and concise package, serving as their way of elbowing competitors out of the way. But now, five years later, they’ve decided to go wild with it. Beyond the Sleepless Aether exceeds an hour in length, but will Symbiotic Growth crumble under that pressure?
The good news for Symbiotic Growth is that, mostly, they succeed. Courtesy of producer Tom MacLean (ex-Haken), Beyond sounds much better than its predecessor. The guitars sound fuller and the ever-prominent bass of Aaron Barriault sits nicely in the mix, popping out when it feels the need. The drums sound far less fake and triggered than most prog-death but unfortunately tend to get lost in the mix beneath the layers of guitar when things start getting crazy. That being said, ‘Of Painted Skies and Dancing Lights’ paints a lovely sonic palette in the song’s latter half, with the band building on one central progression, adding some blast beats and noodly keyboards.
Like their undoubted inspirations Opeth and Ne Obliviscaris, Symbiotic Growth structure most of their songs around central progressions, and reprise them when needed. While this helps ground the record, it also means most songs tend to drag on a bit more than they should. The riff that begins ‘Spires of The Boundless Sunset’ stays present for the first minute and a half of the song, and it’s just too simplistic to justify without a changeup. Thankfully, the band takes a note from Tómarúm’s book and begin a black metal-styled ascent soon after, complete with audible bass whines and clean vocals. The record needs more of these changeups, which are used too sparingly. When the same progression comes back after a minute of electronic buildup, I instead wished for a different section to add some variety. Repurposing sections can feel rewarding, especially in epics such as these, but they take up most songs on the album. ‘Painted Skies’ makes sure that riff stays in your head five of its seven-minute runtime, and
Ironically, my complaints are subverted in the longer songs. ‘The Architects of Annihilation’ shows the band weave through Citadel-era NeO arpeggios and put their own spin on a nasty, Decapitated-like triplet riff. Closer ‘Trading Thoughts for Sleep’ is a welcome contrast, a doomy crawl toward the record’s finish line, sporting an absolutely wicked solo near the end. The song itself feels like the epic journey straight from the minds of the band members, exuding confidence in not only their compositional skills, but a clear vision of what they want a song to sound like. When the sections are reprised, they have enough changeups to make it feel interesting. Though, to detract, the clean vocals are not the greatest, especially on ‘Architects’. I’m unsure which vocalist is on cleans duty, but it sometimes feels like he is limited by trying to go higher than he needs to. His low register feels throaty and flat already, but the higher-ish notes come across as strained and weak, leading to some of the more triumphant moments falling flat.
Beyond the Sleepless Aether is a flawed record, and I’m sure even the band themselves are privy to admit it. Glimmers of brilliance, particularly in the epics and performances, shine through across the record, untouched by occasional patches of off cleans and songs that stick to their guns a little too tightly. As a result, Symbiotic Growth have made a fine record, and one that shows an incredible amount of maturity and growth from their debut. In just a few years, they’ve leveled themselves up a considerable amount, and perhaps the symbiotic relationship between this reviewer and these musicians will help their growth into something special.
Recommended tracks: The Architects of Annihilation, Trading Thoughts for Sleep
You may also like: Tómarúm , Kardashev, Dessiderium
Final verdict: : 6/10
Related links: Bandcamp | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: Independent
Symbiotic Growth is:
– Dan Favot (drums)
– Aaron Barriault (guitars, bass.,vocals)
– Devin “Azerate” McQueen (guitars)
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