Convalescence
Promethee
•
September 20, 2018
Deathcore comes roaring in over Switzerland, a country rarely associated with Heavy Metal. Of course, Switzerland is not without their well-known bands; CELTIC FROST, ZEAL & ARDOR, and CORONOR all hail from the land of chocolate and watches. PROMETHEE has been playing since 2008 in beautiful Geneva. PROMETHEE dives right into a seething pit of dissonant rage within the first few seconds of their third studio release Convalescence. Their sound derives a bit from modern Metal/Deathcore with the only difference being that PROMETHEE does not believe in clean singing during choral breaks. Priding themselves on melding together as a band and as friends so effortlessly, PROMETHEE has all the strength in their lineup, which has remained the same for years, allowing them to hone their sound to peak condition.
Title track "Convalescence" bristles with the rage of a thousand rabid demons with ear shattering cymbal pummelings and animalistic vocals. PROMETHEE chomps at the bit to show that they are armed and dangerous. Joshua Orsi's vocal chord-shredding lyrics don't come up for air at any point during the album. It's just a consistent barrage of screaming rage sustained through nine songs; a decent feat in Deathcore as most bands insist on having a "clean" vocal break in many of their songs. "Endless" and "Witness" both come off like SLIPKNOT instrumentally but vocally sound like DED and both absolutely break you during the chorus with the sheer weight of Mathieu Tappolet's bass riffs. Track seven "The Deep End" is the only instrumental and one of the more aggressive instrumental interludes I've heard on an album. Convalescence has a lot to deal in only nine songs and they jam pack each track with all the rage they can muster.
Convalescence has had trouble remaining independent from any labels, both genre and business related. They have had the privilege to record, produce and release their previous albums and EPs totally on their own. They found out later that the attention you receive changes once you do sign to a label, "...the people we wanted to start working with immediately started to show much more interest once we were signed [to Lifeforce Records]." Says Orsi in an interview with German Metal Magazine Time for Metal. Label or not, PROMETHEE's efforts to create multiple albums and EPs from scratch shows some serious dedication and knowhow.
9 / 10
Almost Perfect
Songwriting
Musicianship
Memorability
Production
"Convalescence" Track-listing:
1. Convalescence
2. While You Stood Still
3. Endless
4. Merchants
5. Witness
6. Demons
7. The Deep End
8. Soiled
9. Old Bones
Promethee Lineup:
Mathieu Tappolet - Bass
Nils Haldi - Drums
Elric Doswald - Guitars
Ludovic Lacroix - Guitars
Joshua Orsi - Vocals
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