Today’s Soundtrack: Cydemind – Erosion – Canadian Progressive Metal
The soundtrack of my four-mile run this morning was Erosion the latest release from the Canadian Progressive Metal band Cydemind. (You can read about the run here). The album has been in my music rotation for the few weeks and I have found it very interesting.There’s a certain sameness to the tracks, but that happens with instrumental albums. At least in my opinion. Anyway, here is some background information on Cydemind.
About Cydemind
The music of Cydemind draws on a lot of influences and their music combines Progressive Rock. jazz and Progressive Metal very nicely. Dream Theater, Haken, Neal Morse, Avishi Cohen and Tigran Hamasyan are among those bands that have influenced Cydemind. Erosion is the first full-length album. Previously, the band has released an EP – Through the Mist and Ages in 2014 and the single “What Remains” in 2015. Cydemind is composed of five members. Here’s the line-up for Erosion….
Olivier Allard / Violins
Alexandre Dagenais / Drums
Camille Delage / Keyboards
Nico Damoulianos / Bass Guitar
Kevin Paquet / Guitars
About Erosion
The first thing that caught my attention about Erosion was the terrific violin of Oliver Allard. It seems to be the glue that holds all of the songs together. At times the guitar stands out, or other times it’s the drums. The band also uses a grand piano throughout the album. The use of that piano provides a touch of classical music to the tracks.But it always comes back to the violin that leads and guides the listener through the complex rhythms and structures of each song.
The album is composed of six tracks that are all centered around the theme of nature and its persistence through time. During my run today I made it up to the start of the last track. That track is the title track “Erosion”. “Erosion” is the longest track on the album and clocks in at a hefty 27 minutes in length!! It became the soundtrack for my trip this afternoon to Wegmans!!
Bottom Line:
Erosion is a 3.5 star out of 5 album for me. That means that I really liked it. Like I said there’s a sense of sameness to much of the music. Now that sense of sameness my start to diminish after a coupe more listens as I get more familiar with the music. Because overall I do believe that most prog rock fans would enjoy the album. There’s plenty to enjoy: lots of heavy riffing, catchy choruses (Can they really be called choruses?), cool solos and many odd-timed grooves! So Check It Out!!
Links for the Further Exploration of the Music of Cydemind
Bandcamp
Facebook
Instagram
Progarchives
Progressive Music Planet Review of Erosion
Here’s track two from the Erosion – “Tree of Tales”