Written By: Nameless_N00b_87
It’s hard to believe Gojira’s From Mars to Sirius will be celebrating its twenty-year anniversary next year. The now famous metal quartet from Bayonne, France has ascended the metal hierarchy since the release of their landmark record, culminating this year in a mainstage spot in the opening ceremonies of the 2024 Summer Olympics. But as a longtime fan, I feared that their performance, no matter how awe-inspiring, would add further fuel to an ever-growing wildfire of imitation by a legion of aspiring musicians seeking to emulate their captivating sound. Enter Septaria, one such young aspiring band from Southern France who are ready to unleash their debut album Astar.1 The foursome has garnered somewhat of a buzz with their existential blend of Gojira’s modern metal and Slowdive’s dreamy post- rock, resulting in the group becoming the latest signees to Guillaume Bernard’s2 Klonosphere label. Let’s find out if these young lads can escape the shadow of their Godzilla-like influences and carve out their own path.
Septaria wastes little time channeling Gojira’s signature sound. From the rhythmic staccatos and pummeling double-kicks of From Mars to Sirius, to the double octave pitch shifts highlighted on Magma‘s “Centaure,” to the harmonic tremolos and melodic tapping of L’Enfant Sauvage, the Gojira tropes dominate Astar’s drawn-out runtime with lackluster results. And to cover the vocal inconsistencies that shredders Hugo Thevenot and Maxime Ayasse produce, the duo run their ethereal cleans, guttural roars, and reverberating screams under thick layers of reverb and delay while toying about with periodic bouts of throat singing and ethnic chants. Drummer Hugo Leydet, who offers his best impersonation of Mario Duplantier’s heavy grooves in both performance and tone, teams up with the low rumble of Baptise Trébuchon’s bass to round out the quartet’s familiar backbone. Though clearly talented, Septaria fail to show much originality outside of a few strong swelling and groove-laden moments peppered throughout Astar that provide a glimpse of the ensemble’s artistic vision.
Septaria’s overindulgence and lack of originality make Astar’s excessive length unjustifiable, bloated, and monotonous. Clocking in at 68 minutes, Septaria’s twelve lengthy, Gojira-inspired tracks rely on post-rock’s epic builds stretched out beyond necessity, resulting in a listless and tedious listening experience. “Being,” for example, is an immense ten-minute track that takes forever to arrive at its apex before the energy dies against four minutes of atmospheric feedback and ominous bass tones. Elsewhere, the lifeforce of Ledet’s hypnotic drumming in “Skys Words” deflates in the song’s bloated second half, offering an uninspired, spacey, and drawn-out construction that clashes with its grandiose form. And the cacophony of whammy bar manipulations and screams of “Saggitarius” shatter all momentum after its midpoint. Meant to offer respite, Septaria attempts to combat Astar’s bloat through strategically positioned intermezzos (“Abyss,” “Persephone”) intended to break the record’s flow into more palatable portions. Instead, these diversions quickly devolve into filler, serving as stagnant pools of rogue riffs.
Astar’s stronger moments appear when Septaria rely on their post-rock and groove-laden core to drive creativity. The dreamlike and celestial bridge that triggers the ending in opener “Moment Présent” signals that these Frenchmen have the capacity to write catchy, somber, and atmospheric grooves with emotional impact. Astar’s best moment arrives with the closing of “Embers” where Ledet’s back-beat shuffle coalesces with Thevenot’s and Ayasse’s harmonic tapping and ominous low tremolos to create a head-bobbing groove. Despite these highlights, however, Septaria’s hesitancy to escape the comfort of their predecessors’ shadow stifles their creativity, leading them to eventually revert to a predictable, borrowed riff.
Septaria is a young band that possesses loads of talent and ambition. However, Astar falls victim to Septaria’s overindulgence and lack of originality. This reliance on a well-established formula, coupled with the inability to craft compelling and concise compositions, results in tedious and underwhelming listen. Astar is a testament to Septaria‘s potential, but it is potential that remains largely untapped. I’m left disappointed with what could have been with Astar, and hope Septaria strives to step outside of the confines of imitation with their next steps.
Rating: 2.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 192 kbps mp3
Label: Klonosphere Records
Websites: septariaofficial.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/septaria.band
Releases Worldwide: November 15, 2024
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