Epectase
Paris, Île-de-France, France | Established. Jan 01, 2018
Music
Press
"With Astres, French duo Epectase have released one of the more confounding metal LPs in recent memory. " - Bandcamp Daily - J. Edward Keyes
"Across five tracks and 63 minutes, Astres is a fully crystalized and monolithic vision exploring themes of opposition and polarity in both sound and philosophy."
"Astres is exceptionally successful at crafting a bold synthesis of styles, suspiring life into the cosmic and psychological aspects of the album’s vision without relenting the finely wrought threads of existential dread that lie within." - Covenant Festival Webzine- Hazel
"This is one of those albums that just makes you go “oh boy” and we really should have written about it earlier. (...) Epectase pull of a series of transitions which would be impossible for other bands. (...) A truly unique album that you simply have to experience for yourself. " - Heavy Blog is Heavy - Eden Kupermintz
"One of the more adventurous labels found on Bandcamp.com, I, Voidhanger pumped out high-quality avant-garde metal all year long. The finest record among the bunch is most definitely Astres, the debut album by French progressive black metal duo Epectase. These guys ‘get’ what makes 70s progressive rock great: from the songwriting to the guitar tone, all the way down to the fantastical concept, I hear as much influence from Emerson, Lake & Palmer as I do Emperor. Eminently addicting and listenable, I’m a big fan of Astres, and it would’ve easily been my favorite metal album of the year. But the sun also rises." - Indy Metal Vault - Ian Lovdahl
"This would be ambitious for a band with several years and albums under its belt; as a debut, it shows brass balls." - Your Last Rites - Zach Duvall
"For a first album, Epectase have no qualms about subverting any expectations of what a black metal band should be." - Dan Marsicano
"Distinct “riffs” in black metal are sometimes hard to come (...) For French duo Epectase and their debut full-length Astres, it seems the challenge was no sweat. (...) Astres has a veritable fuckload up its sleeve and rewards like few albums do on repeat listens." - Invisible Oranges - Andrew Rothmund
"Despite the rather cosmic and pessimistic intro on the new Epectase album Astres, the LP quickly reveals itself to have more groove and ’70s rock/prog heart than black metal angst." - Consequence of Sound - Langdon Hickman
"Astres initially presents itself as a jaunty 2nd wave black metal album, but then things get very interesting. Sure, it's black metal. But it's also 70's prog rock. And it fucking works." - Max Rotvel
"A few months ago the Nine Circles crew were chatting it up and we came to the consensus that our favorite black metal is “it’s, uhhhh black metal? Sometimes?” and that was the way our own Charles Randall got me to listen to Astres, the debut from French black metal outfit Epectase. To say this album is a bit of an earful is an understatement: songs spiral in and out of themselves, taking jumps into noodling that touches shoegaze, jazz, and the usual gang of suspects. The 16-plus minute extravaganza (and why don’t we use that word more when describing metal?) of “Entering the Domain of the Solar Sovereign” is just a ridiculous offering of riffs and songwriting ideas. There’s never a moment when things feel disjointed, and though I wish maybe a minute or two would’ve be trimmed, I’m hard pressed to say where, exactly. That’s a great problem to have, and I cannot wait to hear what Epectase does next." - Nine Circles - Chris
Discography
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Bio
“Hailing from France, Epectase is the formidable duo of Vague and Avitus, talented musicians with a unique approach to the metal genre, true believers in the superiority of artistic vision and expression over stylistic boundaries.
Despite being their first opus, “Astres” is a surprisingly mature effort. Revolving around the concepts of human mortality, space and out-of-body experiences, it lives up to the band's name (épectase means the moving of man towards god) and follows the journey of an individual dwelling into the depths of his own consciousness.
Music-wise, EPECTASE skilfully alternates ominous, frantic black-thrash metal riffs with hypnotic and groovy mid-sections typical of 70's prog, often leading to epic finales where the intensity never ceases to rise up until it reaches an exploding breaking point. It's the case of the monumental “Enter the Domain of the Solar Sovereign”, which propels the listener into outer space, to face the mysteries of creation.
The vocal performances from Avitus and Vague range from raspy, stinging screeches to funereal gurgling growls, enigmatic clean singing and operatic vocals reminiscent of those from Urfaust. Around them, the duo builds impressive architectures of cosmic scale, fluidly moving from dark ambient landscapes of electronic beauty to cascades of guitar leads, luminous melodies, meditative atmospheres and pummeling rhythms.
The heart of the album is in the last two tracks, “La Dédale des Astres et des Âmes” and “La Mer Pourpre”, over 30 minutes of deflagrating black metal crescendo conjuring up the waves of anxiety and the sense of madness intrinsic to the ideas of mortality and human finitude in an entropic and stagnating universe. It's the disintegration of the self, the final certainty that nobody can escape death, and that the void awaits us all.
I,Voidhanger records
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