Fall Of Stasis release their debut album ‘The Chronophagist’
Montreal black metal band puts out a melting pot of genres
Black metal band Fall Of Stasis has been together since 2014. They have only put out a few demos before releasing their first full length album The Chronophagist.
During that time, the band broke up, got back together, and went through many lineup changes. They currently consist of two guitarists, bassist, drummer, keyboardist, and lead vocalist. By the time they were ready to hit the studio, COVID-19 had just broken out, forcing the possibility of releasing an album to be postponed.
“It’s pretty crazy to me to be honest, it seems like I can’t even wrap my head around what’s going on right now because we’ve been waiting for so long,” said drummer Segei Lecours.
The sentiment is shared across all six members. “We started from humble beginnings, jamming in our garage and we had these big projects and everything. But, it’s just the beginning. It’s pretty unreal to see us there right now with this album, it’s very exciting,” said lead guitarist Gabriel Bernier.
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“We started from humble beginnings, jamming in our garage and we had these big projects and everything. But, it’s just the beginning.” — Gabriel Bernier
The album contains 10 tracks and has a runtime of over 49 minutes. The band goes from aggressive black metal with speedy guitars and pounding blast beats, to folk-influenced melodic singing with wistful acoustic guitar playing. This is seen on the tracks such as “The Cult” and “The Last Waltz.”
When talking about the blend of black metal and folk styles, Bernier said each band member brings a different spark to the songs. “We have all these different influences and when we write the songs it all blends right into each other.”
Lecours explained the contrasting styles and different genres created a project that could not fit into a box. “All the reviews we’ve got so far are that we couldn’t be classified, and that’s exactly what we wanted.”
To accompany the album, the band made a music video for the lead single “The Cult'' with producer Martin Trottier. The video shows a pagan cult that heavily indulges in psychoactive substances as the band plays together in a forest.
Lecours described how there was a strive for perfection on the set of the music video so that all the members could be happy with the final product. He recalled having to play the song over 20 times and wanting to go home but Trottier motivated him to keep going. “I’m so glad that he pushed for it,” he said.
Part of the team that made The Cronophagist dream come alive alongside the band is the album producer Christian Donaldson. Donaldson is a well known metal producer for bands here in Montreal, having produced over 50 albums in the last 15 years.
With The Cronophagist, Donaldson took a different approach to recording the album. He had the band play live in the studio as a base for each song and polished the individual parts with the members of Fall Of Stasis later. “It gives it a more vibrant, less sterile production,” said Donaldson.
Singer Vicky Boyer of the metal band Karkaos helped the band with the production of their album along with a guest appearance on the title track. Bernier explained the band's main focus was on guitar and not necessarily on the vocal melodies, and when they went in the studio realized some parts of the album were not as good as they could be.
Highlighting Boyer’s contribution, Bernier said she helped with more than just the last track. “She was there and she helped a lot to re-write some melodies with Chris. It was just a huge help for us, she has a great sense of melody as is just a great singer overall and a great composer.”
The Chronophagist can be listened to on Spotify and the music video for “The Cult” can be viewed on Youtube.
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