OK, there is a lot to get to here; Pronostic is a Canadian progressive/melodic technical death metal project that hasn’t released anything since 2015s , An Atomic Decision, and before that their 2012 debut Deviated Inner Spectrum.

The project is the brainchild of both guitarists/vocalists Alexandre Lauzon and Charles Pilotte, both relative unknowns in the scene, but it’s who joins them as both session members and guest spots that should make fans of tech death cream their pantaloons.

First, we have fretless bassist Xavier Sperdouklis (ex-Ignominy, Killitorous), add former Gorod, First Fragment, and Black Crown Initiate drummer Samuel Santiago. Then to top things off, how about Fleshgod Apocalypse keyboardist/composer Fransisco Ferrini adding some of his epic orchestration to the mix?

Oh then go ahead and add a production and guest appearance from Cryptopsys‘ Christian Donaldson, as well as Despised Icon‘s Alex Pelletier and a few other unknowns (to me anyway) helping out with vocals and even a saxophone, and you have an utterly stellar example of modern Canadian tech death for fans of Augury, First Fragment, Neuraxis, Beyond Creation and such.

So, no you know who is playing, I suppose I should tell you what they are playing and how well they are playing it. While the above bands certainly hit the geographical comparisons, a couple of other bands come to mind when listening to Pronostic’s shredding, progressive, melodic take on technical metal. Certainly, bands like Black Crown Initiate, Alleageaon, and other Riley McShane project, Son of Aurelius all seem to be imbued within the album’s short, direct 10 songs, and every one of them is a gem.

What makes Prognostic so good and maybe sets them a bit apart from some of their Canadian tech-death peers is the sense of melody, which appears to have developed really nicely since the band’s first two albums (which I checked out for research purposes). Each song is filled with shredding, melodic lead work, that isn’t just a note or noodle overload. Oh yeah, you know what else sets them apart? Francesco Ferrini. He only appears in about half of the songs, but when he shows up he elevates things exponentially (as he always does, just ask Shadow of Intent and Synestia). Just listen to the opening standout “Indefinite Continuity, “Concealed Parasite”, “Bare and Wretched”, “. L’impureté Globale” and ” the start of the closer “Abstract Entity”. Goddamm that’s some epic, shredding stuff.

The songs without Ferrini are just as good, notably the shreddingly melodic “Massive Disillusion” (where the aforementioned saxophone appears) and “Conclusion Impromptue”.But thats nos surprise with such skilled musicians involved, notably the pretty constant twangs of Sperdouklis, which really enhance some of the Canadian bands’ hues I referenced above.

Chaotic Upheaval is a dark horse for one of my very favorite albums of the year, and it’s utterly insane that these guys are unsigned…. Prosthetic Records….. are you reading this?

[Visit the band's website]

---

Comments