Sentiment Dissolve – The Orwellian Dream
May 24th, 2024
Progressive / Technical Death Metal
CDN Records
London, Ontario, Canada
Sentiment Dissolve are a relatively new face in the world of Canadian death metal. Formed in 2022 the band released their debut album, The Orwellian Dream, in May of this year, and are now preparing to embark on a tour in support of it. When the band reached out to me in hopes of booking a show in Montreal I decided to check them out beforehand. This style of progressive / technical death metal sometimes rubs me the wrong way and so I was initially wary, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that this record actually kicks a hell of a lot of ass.
From the very first track, “Forced Birther”, we’re given a taste of what to expect on the rest of this record. The riffing from Nicholas Luck on guitars and Spinny Guilbault on bass is tasteful as hell, not really fully embracing the often overzealous technical wankery that a lot of tech death bands fall victim to. Instead the songwriting here feels much more intentional. It grooves. It’s catchy, and when it does deign to dazzle you with technicality, it feels earned. This is a vibe that is carried from the first song on this album straight through to the last one.
Vocalist Nathan Ferreira is on fire here, conjuring comparisons to the vocal stylings of other modern death metal greats such as Job for a Cowboy, Whitechapel, and The Black Dahlia Murder. While I wouldn’t go so far as to compare Ferreira’s style to that of Archspire’s, there is a degree to which his vocal approach emulates the fast-as-fuck nature of Archspire’s music. This only appears a few times throughout the album, but overall Ferreira has a great sense of rhythm and comes up with quite a few memorable vocal passages.
As already mentioned the riffs from Luck and Guilbault are fantastic and certainly a centerpiece for what makes this record so good. There’s plenty of “showing off” to be found, but like I already said it feels earned, usually coming at the end of a passage featuring more standard death metal riffing. That said, even the more standard sounding death metal elements of these songs feel groovy, catchy, and overall just a hell of a lot of fun to listen to. While the riffs are one thing, the solos are another. It’s clear that Luck is a fantastic guitarist, and what shines through aside from his lead guitar work as well as riff construction is the spacious, soulful solos he performs. The same can be said for Guilbault, who will occasionally rip an unexpected but much welcome bass solo that takes you by surprise but fits the song so well.
I’ve always said that when it comes to technical death metal its the drummers that always impress me the most, and the same can be said here for Matthew Johnson behind the Sentiment Dissolve drum kit. His playing is a huge part of what makes this album so much fun. Are there blast beats? Yes. Do they rule the entire album? Not even close. The drumming here is so tasteful and creative, employing so many different techniques and concepts throughout the record that it keeps you guessing and engaged. Every time a new beat starts it takes me by surprise, but never in such a way that takes me out of the listening experience.
While records in this genre can often suffer from over-production, in which everything sounds so clear and computerized that it doesn’t sound like it was composed or performed by an actual human, that isn’t the case here. Is it polished? Yes. But not so much that the soul of the music is removed. Rather, the clarity of the recording and production just emphasizes how upbeat and fun these compositions are.
I wasn’t expecting to like this record as much as I did, especially for a debut from a band I’ve never heard of and from a genre that is often hit or miss with me. Yet, here I am singing its praises. This is truly an excellent debut from Sentiment Dissolve and it has already endeared me towards wanting to hear more from them in the future. Technical death metal can sometimes get a bad rap for its overcomplicated wankery but don’t let that steer you away from the bangers found within this release.
Final Verdict: 8/10
Great
Favourite Tracks:
“Forced Birther”
“Totalitarian Doctrine”
“Omnipotent Panopticon”
~ Akhenaten
Where Strides The Behemoth? 