ALBUM REVIEW: Coagulative Matter – The Scalar Process

Overstuffed with bands of varying degrees of quality, progressive technical death metal is one of the more intriguing, and sometimes exasperating, subgenres of extreme metal. From its inception with DEATH (everything comes back to DEATH), ATHEIST and CYNIC, to its expansion in popularity via BEYOND CREATION, OBSCURA and THE FACELESS, the genre is marmite for many metal fans. Its flamboyance, technical-focus and sheer audacity can be key components of its brilliance, however, for some this can also be a turn-off, leaving it open to accusations of indulgence and soullessness. As with so much in life, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle of these two perspectives. The genre is capable of moments of remarkable beauty, yet it’s also easy for it to wind up bloated and mechanical. The trick, then, is for bands playing this style to walk a tight-rope of tastefulness. France’s THE SCALAR PROCESS manage to do a pretty solid job of this tricky balancing act, positioning their technical virtuosity and human emotions against each other with elegant care. 

For one, they smartly avoid including any instrumentation that feels too arbitrary or unnecessary. The focus of Coagulative Matter is on the instrumentation of its four members, along with some refined keyboard and strings backing and a handful of well-chosen guest stars. Barely a moment goes by without a display of musical brilliance, from the head-spinning riffs of Beyond The Veil Of Consciousness to the wondrous fusion solo on Cosmic Flow. This focus on the skills of THE SCALAR PROCESS’s respective members is a smart choice for their debut album. It’s generally best for a band to wait until they’ve established themselves before doing a RIVERS OF NIHIL and incorporating saxophones atop their breakdowns and blastbeats.

What gives Coagulative Matter its weight and depth is the spaces in between the shredding and virtuosity. Mirror Cognition spends the majority of its runtime at a languorous, dreamy waltz, conjuring a delicate yet mysterious sense of spaciness. Cosmic Flow’s back half makes use of this same atmosphere of serene portent, as does the strange and sinister Ouroborus. These breaks in the album’s intensity are perfectly placed, giving it room to breathe and successfully, but carefully, expanding THE SCALAR PROCESS’s sonic palette.

Coagulative Matter also features a surprising number of collaborations, including session drums by Clement Denys of FRACTAL UNIVERSE, a wild solo on Ink Shadow by Scott Carstairs of genre heavyweights FALLUJAH, vocals on Mirror Cognition by Mark Garrett of KARDASHEV, and even artwork designed by Bastien Jez of EXOCRINE. That’s a pretty sublime roster of guest stars, and should make the album irresistible for diehard fans of the progressive technical death metal scene.

An engrossing, varied and accomplished debut album, Coagulative Matter is a colourful and nuanced introduction to THE SCALAR PROCESS’s musical universe. It proves there’s much life left in this well-worn genre, and that all it takes is a bit of refinement and taste and all criticisms of the sound can be swiftly obliterated.

Rating: 8/10

Coagulative Matter is out now via Transcending Obscurity Records.

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