EP Review: Sedimentum - Derrière les Portes d'une Arcane Transcendante
Reviewed by Sam Jones
Sedimentum’s breakout album Suppuration Morphogènèsiaque was one amongst my favourite releases of 2022, an absolute dynamite record when it hit general audiences. Now imagine my hype when I hear the band are planning an EP release for a late October release, there was no way I was going to skip out on this. Formed in 2018 out of Canadian province of Quebec, Sedimentum are merely the latest in a line of Quebec extreme metal acts who have managed to wow audiences (and offer free lessons on how to pronounce French track and album titles in the long run). Recording and unleashing a number of Demos and then Splits alongside Phobophilic and Total Isolation at the turn of the decade, the band soon gathered their strength to put out their first full length, aforementioned, album. Immediately Sedimentum rocketed to the top of many people’s attention, including my own, and now we have the latest offering to come from the band; their tongue twister of an EP titled Derrière Les Portes Dune Arcane Transcedante (generally translated as Behind The Doors Of A Transcendent Arcana). Primed for an October 25th release window and once more set to be distributed through Me Saco Un Ojo Records, this was a short but expected release I was bristling to dive into.
I like how Sedimentum have just a little more than twenty-one minutes to work with here but still choose not to throw the kitchen sink at us from the immediate outset; their first track here doesn’t really get going until a few minutes in and that’s taking into consideration there are only three tracks present, each of which around seven minutes long. It demonstrates the band’s growing familiarity and confidence with lengthier segments of songwriting, and could shed light on where a prospective second album could take us. It goes to show that while they understand they haven’t brought much material in the way of tracks with them, the quality of their performance is easily located within their songwriting and therefore are not afraid to let some time go by easing us in, letting that immersion deepen before they really hit us in the face. Their willingness to hold back their assault, and wait for the appropriate moment, speaks volumes towards the patience Sedimentum have as it’s evident extreme metal to them isn’t merely a race.
I believe one reason Sedimentum got themselves placed upon the map of extreme metal so swiftly was their implementation of guitar tone. Listening to the band play you know straightaway these guys play death metal of a cavernous leaning, but there’s something a little offset about it. Sedimentum’s soundscape is less subterranean and something murkier, older and more forlorn, it is what made Suppuration Morphogènèsiaque such a massive release for the band; I’d argue the band doubled down on that aesthetic all the more herein as this EP certainly seems to boast a much more sludgy guitar tone, for guitar licks and the end of chords embody a slimier, sticking texture that clings to your skin. Even when a track or two are done, and the EP nears its end, you feel like the last tracks are still with you and the memory of what transpired isn’t going away soon. The bass also feels bolder as it can often be heard at moment points throughout the EP, bolstering the band’s attack. All these things merge together to grant the EP a more malevolent and unkind soundscape than even their predecessor record managed to iterate. The band are certainly using more ambient features too, with massive and crashing drums, interwoven with singular guitar notes slowing the tempo to a deathly crawl à la Bell Witch’s style. We may only be on the first EP release following their first full length album, but already you can see where Sedimentum may be heading next and it thrills me.
One aspect I’m greatly appreciative of is how the drums have been utilised for more than simply being blast beats at every turn. Let’s not be mistaken, blast beats are frequently employed across the EP and it’d be out of character for Sedimentum to forgo such a technique completely, yet Sedimentum do ensure there’s more to be heard out of their drums than one expected drum style alone. There are often phases where the drums’ ferocity will completely subside and they’ll deliver a much more rudimentary, conventional performance that plays in to the band’s more grounded songwriting either following or preceding their more frantic periods. It therefore gifts blast beats with greater resonance in the songwriting for when they’re brought into play you know it’s earned and hasn’t been applied to the songwriting simply out of wanton extremity. Additionally you’ll hear the full scope of the kit utilised but not out of a furious or rabid perspective; these drum tracks clearly took time and planning in order for their more methodical pieces to not only feel necessary in the band’s attack, but also to relax our senses so other elements of the band get to shine, thereby enabling any track in question to come to greater, satisfying, fruition.
In conclusion, Sedimentum’s latest EP release is a huge achievement for a band that have only just got going, in the grand scheme of things. Whilst their first full length work was enormous and was a veritable crossroads in their career, this EP not only cements their success as more than a simple fluke but firmly points us towards where they may, and very much shall, be doing next. There’s a greater emphasis on tone, atmosphere, the band are implementing numerous doom and sludge influences into their metal. They’re already trying, experimenting, ideas and themes that we never got throughout Suppuration Morphogènèsiaque and that can be only a positive thing for a band still young into their career. Though each track is roughly seven minutes long and there are just three tracks within, Sedimentum convince you in no time that your attention is more than warranted here. This was a great experience and I’m now ecstatic for a new album, whenever that will be because I know I’ll be there.
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