History & Biography Montreal's Aphasia mixes some underground extreme elements with more
traditional and melodic sounds to create something simultaneously heavy
and accessible. Main man Houle is the co-editor of the Sang Frais
fanzine. A demo cd called Beyond The Infinite Horizon appeared in 1998. Bosse and Girard left the band for "medical reasons" with Bosse being replaced by ex-Genocide member Simon Chenier and Girard by Philippe Moreau. 2001 brought a distribution contract with Grind It. January of 2002 saw the release of the independent debut Arcane In Thalassa which furthered the band's previous sound.
Reviews APHASIA - ARCANE IN THALASSA
It's always been this writer's opinion that the Canadian metal scene's
biggest problem is its lack of professional development. Notice, not
the
music; the professional know-how, expertise and lack of knowledge-based
resources is what Canada lacks. Canadians have always been metal
leaders.
From Rush to Triumph, from Exciter to VoiVod and from Blasphemy to
Cryptopsy
Canada has consistently done it better and earlier than any other
country.
Which brings me to Aphasia: great band! The musical prowess is only
(rightly) surpassed by the enjoyable speed and heaviness. The band,
during
eight songs and 51 minutes, mixes ample melody with elements of speed
metal
and vicious Darkthrone-style blaze to deliver some of the more
accomplished
moments you will hear all year. The sound is great and the band slaps
its
competition in the face. Yet, look at the cover - ouch! Worse, the band
photo depicts three guys in crumpled shorts with my favourite being the
dude
squinting his eyes under the sun. I would have advised the band to get
a
manager and work at a more professional level to go somewhere, but what
are
you going to do? Canada is riddled with 'managers' who have never done
anything for their former bands - save disservice. 'Label' bosses whose
only
record is the record number of past failures and 'distributors' whose
only
forté is seeing if they can last under their current name more than
three
months before going bankrupt for lack of trying. Under these
circumstances I
salute the spirit of independence and ask everyone to overlook the
presentation and get hold of Aphasia's debut full length - it metals!
No
price given so write to C.P. Saint-André, Box 32111, Montreal H2L 4Y5.
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