Style: Progressive rock, progressive metal (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Porcupine Tree, Pain of Salvation, Caligula’s Horse, Opeth
Country: Canada
Release date: 8 May 2026

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After reaching the top of the progressive mountain, what’s left to achieve? Cracking into the Subway’s top twenty underground prog albums of 2020-2024 with It All Began with Loneliness, members of the progressive rock/metal outfit The Anchoret would have been justified basking in their glory and allowing complacency to wash over them. Maybe that’s the lazy American in me speaking though, as Sylvain Auclair (vocalist/bassist) and Sébastein Cloutier (keyboards) of The Anchoret have no interest resting on their laurels, releasing Black Soul Sickness with their project Karcius. As an introspective progressive rock journey into life’s cycle of loss and rebirth, these Montrealers simply have too much to say to be restrained by Subway glory.

Black Soul Sickness flows with a steady, palpable, and heart-wrenching sense of emotion. Auclair laments mournfully as a man reflecting on the cumulative effects of his past mistakes. With the wisdom of age, Auclair gently urges for a lost son to take a pause and return home in “Slow Down Son”, while he delivers a call to action with a steady underlying anger to avoid the ravages of the black soul sickness of modern society in “Awakening the Spirit”. Auclair’s voice has a distinct gravely coarseness which he leans into during heavier passages, omitted during the soft, gentle sections with his soaring clean vocals. By adjusting the raspiness of his voice throughout Black Soul Sickness, Auclair blends in perfectly with the alternating acoustic and distorted instrumentation.

Karcius provide each instrument with the space to be heard distinctly, thanks to the crystal clarity of each member in the mix, and the freedom to flourish, as individual ideas and themes are explored without rush or haste. From Simon L’Espérance’s bluesy guitar lamentation that introduces opening track “Wallow” to the dueling guitar and keyboard solos in “Awakening the Spirit” there’s a consistent flair of tasteful virtuosity throughout the album. By placing the bass up front in the mix, Black Soul Sickness has a velvety-rich and full sonic texture. Compared to The Anchoret’s horn-filled jazz fusion, Karcius’ approach is a more stripped down, straight to the point version of progressive rock. That’s not to say simplistic, but rather more singularly focused on the traditional core four-piece band without the distractions of surprise instrumental guest appearances. Tension builds steadily throughout the heavier tracks “Wallow”, “Out of Nothing”, and “Darkest Heir”, as repeat verses are enriched with additional guitar layers and the presence of walking bass lines alongside the growing coarseness to Auclair’s vocals. Gentle acoustic passages transform into bass drum-pounding grooves, as “Wallow” and “Out of Nothing” flash with prog rock-era Opeth distorted vibes.

By opening Black Soul Sickness with the thirteen-minute opus “Wallow”, Karcius shine bright straight out of the gate. The track paints a rich tapestry of smooth acoustic melodies, bass and drum-led grooves, with tasteful key and guitar solos, swirling up a double bass drum-led distorted culmination. The pacing of Black Soul Sickness falters a bit following the excellent opener, as Karcius seem to steadily descend from the heights reached in “Wallow”. Repetitive and cliched vocal lines weigh down the back half of the album in “Rise” and “Dusting My Coat” which reduce the emotional impact compared to earlier tracks. While there are no weak songs on the album, I found myself looking back to “Wallow” as the album came to a close, due to the noticeable downward slope as Black Soul Sickness progresses.

The individual performances of Karcius alongside the rich instrumental and vocal tones of Black Soul Sickness result in a satisfying listening experience. Though the peaks of “Wallow” go unmatched, there are plenty of secondary crests to explore. While I doubt Karcius are concerned with claiming their spot in the Subway’s top progressive album for the 2020’s later years, their talent can’t be denied, and you would be sorely mistaken to skip over Black Soul Sickness.

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Recommended tracks: Wallow, Out of Nothing, Slow Down Son
You may also like: The Anchoret, The Reticent, Luna’s Call
Final verdict: 7.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram

Label: independent release

Karcius is:
– Simon L’Espérance (guitars, synths, percussions, keyboards & loops programming)
– Sylvain Auclair (vocals, bass)
– Thomas Brodeur (drums)
– Sébastien Cloutier (piano, B3, wurlitzer, synths, mellotrons, additional keyboards)