Independent Release
Review By Tony Cannella
From France comes the band Devious eXperiment of Synthesthesis or DXS as they are sometimes referred to. Okay, the full name is a real mouthful, so henceforth they will be known as DXS in this review. The band play dark, progressive metal with a nod or two towards the Black Metal genre. The band is led by the passionate, clean and strong lead vocals of Alienor Colin and at times she is joined by the grunt vocals of Bass player Alexandre Ardisson, some clean male vocals also surface from time-to-time, all of that can be heard on their new release titled, “Cathar5y5”. Without further adieu, let’s get to it…“Cathar5y5” contains only 7-songs, but features a playing time of around 45-minutes. The songs allow room for plenty of musical experimentation and lyrically the band shows some imagination as well. The opening track gets the ball rolling in quite an impressive fashion with “Mirror (of Terror)”, this track showcases the duel vocals of Alienor Colin in conjunction with the ‘grunts’ of Alexander Ardisson who also happens to be the bass player. The next track “Amnesia” is probably my favorite. Three distinctly different vocal styles are put to great use on this number – Alienor’s, Alexandre‘s and some clean male vocals all mix very well on this one. The next track “Synthetic Affective Disorder” is also the longest at over 9-minutes but it proves to be another high point, featuring some great heaviness, tempo changes and a melodic sensibility that is quite apparent throughout “Cathar5y5”. “Psychotic Depression”, “Catharsys”, “Aphasic Agony” and “Nocturnal Phobia” are also worth mentioning. At times throughout the CD, vocalist Alienor Colin reminds me a bit of Kimberly Goss of the band Sinergy, particularly in her softer moments.DXS has released a fine debut with “Cathar5y5”. The songs are well written and the band technically sound. Each of the 7-songs takes on it’s own identity and atmosphere, making it worthy of repeated listenings. For fans who enjoy progressive music with a real focus on heaviness and melody, you should check this band out. An excellent way to begin what will hopefully be a nice, long career for this French band.
Rating – 88/100
Tracklist
- Mirror (of Terror)
- Amnesia
- Synthetic Affective Disorder
- Psychotic Depression
- Catharsys
- Aphasic Agony
- Nocturnal Phobia
Line Up
- Alienor Colin – Vocals
- Camille Mougins – Guitar
- Jean Michel Denizart – Keyboards
- Alexandre Ardisson – Bass & Grunts
- Olivier Blin – Drums
Links
MySpace * ReverbNation * Facebook * Site