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From Soundscape Magazine #4 (Québec):APHASIA: "Beyond The Infinite Horizon" - MCD (Indie)This new Québec based power-trio plays a brand of Death/Thrash that reminds me of some of the stuff many European bands do nowadays in the spirit of the retro-Thrash revival... There also is a definite affinity to the more purest Death Metal, but always in the noteful riffing typical of older Thrash... Some little traces of Black Metal can also be found here and there. The musicians are pretty decent and quite accurate, eventhough there are a few parts that are not perfectly tight. The guitars are loud and pretty clear... The bass fills the void with lots of snap and the drums are pretty clear and loud... The overall sound is a bit demo-like, but still loud and clear! Make that an excellent quality demo-CD!!! While these guys aren't re-inventing the genre, there is enough interesting stuff in here to make us want to hear more in the near future! Four songs for a running time of 25 minutes... S.B. Contact(...) From Arnold Hablewitz (USA):Aphasia "Beyond the Infinite Horizon Promo" - Rating: 9.5Summary: I'd always been real weary of Black Metal in the past, mainly because I always hear stories about how horribly musically impaired these bands are. Nothing could be further from the truth as this two-song CD proves. First off, this is actually a two-song promo disc for an EP under the same name and the info for the real EP is enclosed. This is epic black metal without all the satanic stuff, in the sense that the music takes most black metal boundaries to the edge. The drumming is superb and fast as hell, and the bass playing makes this one of the best black metal rhythm sections there are. And the guitar playing, aw...forget about it. The guitarist uses more weird intervals than a drunken KoRn, although the lack of solos is the only thing I don't agree with, but so 'tis a lot of other black metal band nowadays. There are these cool little tranquil parts here and there that add what can only be described as the calm before the storm, as the tranquil pieces quickly retreat to utter insanity and chaos. Also, the lead vocalist reminds me a HELL of a lot of AT The Gates, to the point where I'm almost ready to start screaming "Slaughter of the Soul" at the top of my lungs. I love this and cannot get the damn thing outta my CD-ROM drive. Info(...) From Eternal Frost (USA):APHASIA (Canada) Beyond the Infinite Horizon promotional CD 1998 - 2 tracks/13:29Phew. Talk about pushing it up to the last minute. Two weeks overdue, I turn in my final review, one shy of the full amount of discs and tapes received. SPOCK'S BEARD! Next time. So I played this disc twice today, and I think it's pretty rockin'. Canada makes lots of good bands, most of which are surprisingly unsyrupy. This is excellent. NWOBHM inspired, perhaps? The vocals have more flavor than many in this genre, which lean to the black side of black/death. The dual (triple?) vocal track attack is massive. All around good production, execution and conceptualization. Really solid bass work that calls to mind a certain famous British bassist. . . Twice the first song seems to end, only to come back even harder. From melodic to mosh, psychotic shrieks to subterranean growls, this band blends lots of influences without sounding forced about it. The second song is in the same vein and again magnifies this band's high points: top-notch musicality and production. I think they'd be great to see live. This second track is at least as killer as the first. Hmmm. Who could possibly not like APHASIA? Perhaps people who only like grind and ultra-brutal death metal. It's not cookie-cutter black metal either, and meets only the expectations held by the band themselves. In short, a band worthy of support. This demo is a CD-R, which is important to note up-front. Otherwise, you have to send some knuckle-head Swede his nine dollars back because he thinks he was ripped off for receiving a CD-R instead of a factory pressing. Less relevant in this case, perhaps, it being a demo and all. A unique band that I somehow associate in my mind with the likes of AT THE GATES and IRON MAIDEN. --Jason From Édition Métallique (Québec):Aphasia: Beyond the Infinite Horizon, June 1998, reviewed by: Phildark, style: Black MetalIn Québec, We find many Death Metal bands! The invasion and the influence from SUFFOCATION, CANNIBAL CORPSE and several others has been quite present in the last few years. On the other hand, there are few few bands, including APHASIA, who find some of their influences in Black Metal with a more European approach with aggressive melodies. The band is formed of Stéphane Houle on high pitch vocals and guitars, Jean-François Girard on lower vocals and bass and finally Ugo Bossé on drums (very good, by the way). In fact, the drums sound is loud and energetic. We can feel the drummer's rage and aggressivity! It's Live and as we say in Québec, "ça buche en crisse"! For a first effort, the production is very good (a thumb's up to J.F. Dagenais from Peter Pan Studio) and both voices complete each other effectively and rigorously; one very high à la DISSECTION and the other much lower in the vein of AMORPHIS. I must admit that I've seen APHASIA before Live and it did not catch my attention. But when I heard "Beyond The Infinite Horizon", I got really impressed by the quality of the compositions. The songs are pretty long, but we don't get that impression; it flows very well! I strongly suggest this album to Black and Death Metal fans. Plus, they need the support to release their second album, so here's another reason to support them. 9/10(...) From Sang Frais #2 (Québec):APHASIA - Beyond The Infinite Horizon:At first look, the cover with its snow covered mountains seems very calm. Instead, they should prepare you for the torment, the fear and the unknown. This is where the album leads you to. With its dark lyrics and rhythms variations, the music is very intense. Some melodic breaks are there to bring more extremeness to Stéph’s screams and more tempo to J.-F’s low vocal. An excellent quality recording that grants to Ugo’s drumming what it deserves. Intense bass drum rolling and clean snare are leading those black/death melodies. The intros will give you the goose bumps, especially on Quest For Eternal Life, which links to double vocals verses... violent! That really is their strenght. Even if this CD contains only 4 titles, this is more than a mini-album. The 25 minutes will get you through the band's feelings... -Lou- BACK TO THE TOP Biography / Contacts Discography & Sound Samples / Latest News / Links Merchandise / Pictures / Shows Schedule En Français |
