Interview with Eloi Nicod (The Scalar Process)

What a year 2020 was with so much going on while being stuck indoors, I barely got any work done. With it being the start of a new year, the goal is to get back on track and bring even more content, reviews, and interviews in 2021. Starting right now, with an interview from Transcending Obscurity Records own The Scalar Process. The Scalar Process are a tech-death band preparing to unleash their debut release, entitled Coagulative Matter. In the lead up to the release of the album on February 19th, guitarist Eloi Nicod made time to catch up with us and give a little bit of insight into the band's first album.

Tell us a bit about The Scalar Process, where did the name come from?

Scalar is used as a math calculation you can use in a lot of contexts, to calculate speed, weight or distance, in computer science, or in hierarchical scales. It is representative of the atmospheric feeling I want for our music, it has no particular impact on the lyrics, even if sometimes I mention this in a more metaphorical way.

Releasing this year is your debut album, released with Transcending Obscurity Records, how do you feel finally getting the music out there?

It’s been a huge achievement when we finished the album. We were working on it since June 2016. Back in the days, I was writing for The Scalar Process alongside Derealized, a Black/Death Band. After having worked years and years on the songs, the production, we were lucky to see a positive response from Kunal of Transcending Obscurity Records! And then we signed!

 

We are happy to be part of this excellent record label with plenty of excellent bands like Coexistence, Hateful, Cerebrum, Godless Truth, The Last Of Lucy.

What's the backstory on this album, what's the meaning behind the art and the concept of the lyrics?

For the album artwork, I contacted Bastien Jez who already did covers for other bands like Exocrine, Promethean. He did a phenomenal job based on our story. We wanted to describe the whole thematic of the album in one artwork that supports the lyrics. It is about a protagonist who is confronted with his torments and problems which are distant from him in time and space. This is why everything displayed on the artwork is either distant or closer, it emphasizes depression, nostalgia. I tried to compare that with space, hallucinations, and even biblical references, like the Forbidden Fruit.

How was the recording process, did you find there were any issues that came along?

I have my own home-studio, so the recording process was quite easy for me. The main issue remains spending a lot of time searching for a vocalist, mid-range, and of course, available. When my best friend Mathieu came back from Portugal, I told him about The Scalar Process and he tried some vocals. I found my singer this day!

 

Did the current pandemic cause any issues in the recording process for you?

Not at all, because we recorded the album in 2019.

 

Playing and writing tech-death is certainly not easy, what bands inspire your writing?

It is not easy at all, that’s for sure! My main influences are, just to name a few: Fallujah, The Zenith Passage, Cynic, The Faceless.

 

Have you started to make any tour plans for when the pandemic is over?

We are talking with some bands about that, but nothing definitive. We can't know with this pandemic.

Speaking of tour plans, give us a little insight. Who have you shared the stage with, and who would you dream to play with in the future?

We are in the starting blocks, we haven’t shared stages with any other bands yet (and it is due to the pandemic situation as well). However, I can name a few from li ves I did with my old band Derealized. I personally shared the stage with Atlantis Chronicles, Dew Scented, Fractal Universe, Blazing War Machine.

My dream is to play with Fallujah and Cynic!

 

Thank you so much for your time, is there any last messages you would like to leave with fans? Stay Safe! And we hope to see you soon to share the album on stage!

Thank you so much for this interview, take care of yourselves! You can grab our album Coagulative Matter or our sexy merch which will be out on February 19, 2021 through Transcending Obscurity Records.

Ontario Death Fest 2017: Ending Tyranny

        Today is gonna be slightly different, there's a handful of bands on this years bill that I've seen in the past, which means i can do a doule coverage. Talk about the studio music and the live experience, so let's give this a shot with the main support of Friday night: Ending Tyranny. This will be the first Tech Death band to hit the stage this year and these guys do not hold back, this is gonna be fast, heavy and hard hitting and it'll kick you in the face right off the bat. My main experience with this band is having seen them multiple times at this point and practically worshipping the bands latest release "Elovultion of Deceit", anyone who's read my coverage in the past may realise this isn't the first time I've brought up this band.

        Let's start off with the studio experience, last time I saw Ending Tyranny the set consisted mostly of "Evolution of Deceit" songs. These songs are insane and some of the stand outs are "12 Palms" which is pure Death Metal bliss, solos and blasts included, this'll be the track that gets any Death Metal fan moving whether it's in the pit or upfront headbanging. "Faceless Silouhette" on the other hand, is as Tech Death as Tech Death gets, the band straight up rips solo after solo putting bands like Protest the Hero to shame. For the fans who would want somewhere in the middle of those two, you would want to check out "Epitome" a song that had the effect of Old School Death Metal, with the speed and insanity of some of the best Tech Death and even some intense mixes of Melodic Death Metal sprinkled in. Regardless of the type of Death Metal you like, Ending Tyranny have a treat for you somehwere in their music.

        Going on to the live experience, as stated before, I have caught these guys multiple times everywhere from support to headline and they never disappoint. The first time I saw them some guy straight up passed out during their solo! Probably coincidence, but maybe not, maybe the band just over shreded him. Since then I have seen the band play the entire new album in full on a couple different occasions and even more recently, start to show off a new track which kills live. Any Death Metal fan in the area should be drawn to see Ending Tyranny and with how solid their live show is and how tight the band sound live, I'm hoping we will see some new songs at this years Ontario Death Fest!

Interview with Allegaeon's Riley McShane (Video)

Just hours after the release of their cover of Rush's "Subdivisions", Allegaeon's new vocalist, Riley McShane, took time out of what is inevitably a busy schedule to talk to us about tour plans, the new album "Proponent for Sentience", his favourite songs and more!



Subscribe to us on YouTube
Like us on Facebook
Like Allegaeon on Facebook
Order "Proponent for Sentience"

Concert Report: Killitorous, Erimha, The Apex and Ending Tyranny at the DSTRCT in Guelph, Ontario, Canada

                There’s something surprisingly unique about seeing a show that’s not in Toronto. There’s also something special about seeing a band that the last time you saw were playing the big Mayhem Festival stages and now they’re in your face. A nice Friday night in Guelph, Ontario, the university kids were out for a night of drinking when a bunch of Death Metal bands descended on the DSTRCT, a venue on the second floor of a bar that had some smooth jazz going. Upstairs was some “#BlackLivesMatter” party or something, and in the middle was Metal. Killitorous, Erimha, The Apex and Ending Tyranny were about to shake the support of this building.

                The night started a bit late as one of the bands had some troubles arriving at the venue, after a bit of extra waiting we were greeted by Ending Tyranny, who played their new album “Evolution of Deceit” and while it was there first time playing some of these songs, I’m sure another first happened for these guys, almost all the way through their second some someone collapsed! Without missing a beat the band finished, made sure the guy was okay and vocalist Callum Clark goes “what the hell, I missed it!” Some Tech Death goodness knocked this guy right on his ass, must have melted his brain a bit. Clark and the rest of Ending Tyranny, although being a rather small band, have a better stage presence than most bands that have been in the business for 20+ years. While introducing “Faceless Silhouette” Clark was able to joke about “since when did silhouettes have faces in the first place?” When the band came up to the end of their set they were thankful to the crowd and said goodnight.

                The crowd was rearing to go, after some wicked Tech Death that a lot of us didn’t expect to enjoy so much next on was The Apex. These guys were pretty cool having got the chance to talk to Tyson as both a journalist (read our interview) and a fan at the show plus their new album is killer and sounds even better live. The band opened fast and hard with “Contention: Chapter 2” the crowd was wild and ready to rock, showing The Apex what they were made the crowd was getting really into it. continuing with “Promise,” “Means To An End” and “Glass Walls” the band eventually hit “If Detroit Rivers Could Speak” getting the crowd nice and ready for what’s to come and closing out with “Contention: Chapter 1” this crowd was ready to kill and next up was going to be the perfect band to do it to.

                With their new album “Thesis Ov Warfare” released just weeks ago, Erimha were here to show everyone what they had to offer. Donning full corpse paint and performing barefoot the band opened with the first single from the new album “The First Law” and already the pits were going; this was the start of the destruction.  Having played Mayhem Fest in 2014 and toured with Mushroomhead, Erimha were pros at putting on a show, even though this was probably one of the smaller venues they had played in quite a while, they gave it their all. Blazing through their set with new songs the band introduced one from “Reign Through Immortality” although not “Verdict of the Soul” (which later, vocalist Gore told me they removed for a new song at this show specifically) the band roared into “Condemned To Desolation” and the pit grew to scary sizes for this small venue, nowhere was safe while the band played. “Fragmented Existence,” the song played to replace “Verdict of the Soul,” was (almost) worth still not having seen “Verdict” and after a few more songs, t was the end and onto the final band of the night.

                This is where things got real insane, using their own lights instead of the house lights and getting everything ready, Killitorous took the stage. This band has their own sense of humour that almost can’t be paralleled and it’s a crazy contrast from the sternness of Black Metal that Erimha has to offer. The band played a bunch of their hits like “’Til Death Do Us Party” and even inviting Ending Tyranny’s Callum Clark back to the stage for “Geore Castanza’s Father’s Son” the band made a ton of new fans with the level of silly Tech Death. At one point the band asked “does anyone like the movie Ace Ventura” which was greeted by a fan yelling “CANNIBAL CORPSE” and the band played 2 seconds of “Hammer Smashed Face” the band was coming up on the end of their set. Which I think a lot of people welcomed seeing as it was like 1:15am at this point. Playing through “No Not The Bees” and “It’s Not Stanley, It’s Stan Lee” the band made their way off the stage and the crowd was done. I’ve never seen a crowd so out of energy after a show, it just shows how much these bands has these people using.

                After the show I got to talk with the awesome dudes in The Apex and got some stuff signed by Erimha and finally got to meet all of them. The crowd made their way out looking thrilled to have experienced that level of awesomeness, everyone was making friends outside and all in the, the night was successful. All these bands are worth seeing live and if given the chance, I will see any and all of them again.