I’m always up for when a heavy-ass band strays a little from their typical material and drops a clean/acoustic type of song. The hood classic that best exemplifies this is Death‘s “Voice of the Soul” (RIP Chuck), meanwhile a more recent example would be First Fragment‘s “Sonata en Mi Mineur”. While the technical ability of the musicians in those respective bands is already strikingly obvious with all that gain and distortion, it’s these more clean, one-off songs that allow for that instrumental proficiency to truly shine even more across the board (sans the vocalist as these two songs are purely instrumental). Now we have yet another track, titled “Transient”, in this very vein coming from Epitaphe‘s upcoming release and you can listen to an advance premiere of it below, courtesy of Everything Is Noise!
Epitaphe are a French collective of musicians that don’t shy from from a musical challenge, as their two already released albums that ebb and flow across multiple extreme metal subgenres with an avant-garde approach. They are set to release their third album, aptly titled III, on September 11 through Aesthetic Death and Gurgling Gore. Here is what the band had to say about the single:
‘“Transient” is the first song we wrote for this new album, and it’s arguably a weird choice for a single! The track ventures into some new territory for us. It’s shorter than our usual ‘epics,’ the songwriting is more compact, and it’s also our first and only song featuring solely clean vocals. It was a kind of dive into the unknown, but we’ve never been shy about experimenting. Expanding our sound and trying out new ideas has always been important to us. “Transient” holds a special place in the context of the record, and we are very proud of it!‘
Following up the lead single that is “Windswept”, an oppressively hulking epic that is worth five songs in its own right, we have “Transient”, representing the non-cacophonous, velvety side of Epitaphe. Starting with gentle, clean guitar arpeggios that soothe any and all qualms that the listener may have, we’re transported to this peaceful, autumnal stretch of land as is depicted on the bottom quarter of the album artwork. Like in the album artwork, there is a stark dichotomy to be expected from the rest of the album musically, as it’ll be just as harshly frostbitten and forlorn. “Transient” is a blissful reprieve from that frozen musical hellscape. This track has jazzy undertones that really aid in allowing you to drift through the tranquil atmospheres before being sent back to sheer mayhem and discordance.
III is dropping very soon (September 11), so is you’re crazy enough send yourself spiral into this chaotic musical experience that will sure to be undergo throughout the rest of the album, you’ve come to the right place; “Transient” acting as the palette cleanser track betwixt all the musical horrors that are bound to unfold. Their previous albums are Name-Your-Own-Price on Bandcamp (I and II), so it costs you absolutely nothing but your time and sanity to check out in the lead-up to III. Also give them a follow on their socials (Facebook | Instagram) while you’re at it!
