Seyr’s Flux is a beautiful, varied, varied record which is forward thinking and feels like could be pointed to in a number of years as an important record in a burgeoning new genre. Opening with The Ocean-esque riffage this record comes out of the gate as something which would appeal to post-metal fans, but rapidly grows in scope and stature. There are overtones of Intronaut and other more complex post-metal type prog bands such as Calyces, but as the record lumbers into your ears an ever-growing array of stylistic touch points make themselves felt.
Vocally the death growls are sublime; veering between OSDM gurgling and the bowels of hell opening. These moments are, to put bluntly, super fucking heavy and deliciously enticing. It’s not these sections, however, which make the vocal approach a particular highlight. No, it’s the bracing breadth of cleans on display, and the clear choice to produce something which is incredibly original. Power metal warbles are infrequently heard, albeit with an atonality which produces unrest, alongside Sisters Of Mercy style 80s goth chic, Nick Cave grit and… well, pirate metal barks. It all sounds as if it should be a horrible listen, but it’s not. It’s actually sort of glorious.
Musically the album veers between Gojira esque rhythms (complete with Duplantier shouts to boot), a slight djenty buoyancy, head down thrash triplets, discordant and agonising chordal work, sweep picked guitar heroism, blackgaze textured tremolo picking and the kind of riffing which bounded out of the gates in the early 00s to 10s on tech-death/deathcore releases by Job For A Cowboy, Fallujah and The Faceless records.
This album feels like a very specific response to tech-death. In the same way there has been a re-emergence of less precise, more groove laden, death metal in response to the often starkly indifferent theatrics of tech-death, I feel like there is another brand of death metal fan who craves a split from the unrelenting nature of the Tech-death style, but wants to retain all of the glorious skin-peeling nature of a lot of what happened in that genre. Take tracks like ‘Waasakuni’ and tell me you don’t feel like you’re being bludgeoned to death and torn to shreds by a mechanical deathbot at points. It just happens between Opethian prog beauty (such as the whispering which calls to mind black rose immortal on the title track flux), rather rapidly delivered Rush-like chord choices and roiling post metal.
I present here, then, what is most certainly an incredible prog metal record, and wonderful first release from a clear incredibly gifted band and the start of something I think will come to be known as post-tech-death.
Flux is out now via Bandcamp and can be ordered here.
Words: Simon Young
