Album Review: Cydemind – Erosion (Self-Released)

The debut album, Erosion, from violin meets prog metal band Cydemind will be released on May 26th 2017. Six tracks that are centered around the theme of nature and its persistence through time. It’s a unique listen.

Violinist Olivier Allard had this to say regarding the album:

“It’s a pretty unique kind of progressive metal, but it’s rather easy to get hooked to it! Because our music is full of different soundscapes and ambiences, and because every instrument is interesting! We have a classically trained violin, that’s pretty unique to our band. We hope every fan actually has a different listening experience depending on how and what they’re listening.”

Erosion is an album that will divide listeners. On the one hand it’s filled with great melodies, proggy riffs & epic moments. On the other it’s lengthy, often self-serving to the point of frustration & is borderline boring at times.

Opening song What Remains has a fun video game beat that is quickly heightened when the violin comes in. Allard can play, there is no denying that. In fact the musicianship on display is pretty incredible. Guitar riffs that you’ll want to write home about, lovely piano melodies & just enough violin to ensure it doesn’t overstay its welcome.

Unfortunately for all the flash & style of Erosion it struggles to hold the attention. Songs like Tree of Tales & Red Tides are filled with lovely melody but drag on to the point of boredom. It’s disappointing that you’ll find yourself zoning out & before you know it the song has ended & you’ve not taken anything away from it.

Things get slower with the ballad Derecho. Some great piano melody sitting well alongside some fascinating hooks & well placed violin moments. At 13 minutes it does go on for far too long though & you can’t help but feel that Erosion would be so much better if the songs were shorter.

It doesn’t improve much with Stream Capture & then we hit Erosion, a 27 minute song. That’s no joke, 27 minutes long. Why? There’s epic & then there’s just being silly. It’s unnecessarily long & changes direction many times for no real reason. However it does have some of the best melodies of the entire album & unlike the rest of the album it sticks in the mind.

For everyone that can’t get along with Erosion there will be another that loves every second of it. An epic album in every sense of the word, it really should have been a 10/10 but the combination of classical instruments & metal isn’t original & it doesn’t offer enough fresh ideas.

Cydemind – Erosion Full Track Listing:

1. What Remains
2. Tree of Tales
3. Derecho
4. Red Tides
5. Stream Capture
6. Erosion

Erosion will be available via iTunes, Bandcamp, Spotify and all other major online retailers as of May 26, 2017. Pop over to Bandcamp now to pick up What Remains as a single as well as the bands previously released EP. Go & give the band a like on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, Instagram & check them out on YouTube.