Список групп Melodic Death Outlying Scars of Daylight

The Quebecer trio formed when they were in high school and was initially named The Curse Of Angels. But then they changed their name to Outlying. So I suspect that this name refers to the invisible spiritual dimension that surrounds the physical world of the living. The original bassist and drummer quit the group, long before this debut album was recorded and released. So vocalist and guitarist Fred Dubeau is obviously the leader of this band. The album art depicts the face of an angel. Like the ones that moderate the confidential communications, between the living and the dead. This release was meant to be a concept album, about the life changing experience of a modern person, going through a twisted journey. So does the content reflect the context of that endeavor?

The album starts out with a short intro called Code 903. Some cymbal rolls and guitar notes are played backwards to create eerie sound effects. Birds are anxiously crowing to signal each other, with the noise of a siren from an approaching emergency vehicle. A crowd of people are perplexed and panicking. Then there's the sound of someone breathing slowly, with an erratic pulse, as though he might be mortally injured. So what the fuck is a code 903? It's not a police alert. Some psychics regard 903 as an angelic number. Which signifies that angels and ascended masters of the dead, are getting someone through a divine life path and purpose. The lyrical story of this album involves a suicide cult survivor. Who has a comatose nightmare about being lost at sea, as though he's traveling on a ship.

The vocals are dark and grim, which imparts a feeling of evil despair, like the approach that Florean Maier from Dark Fortress is known for. Forgotten Instinct is about being at sea on a ship with a stalled engine. Then a violent storm moves the ship off course and they become lost. The guitar shreds lightly at a medium tempo, with a rhythm that seems to have been borrowed from the Kataklysm song called Let Them Burn. But it isn't played as brutally as that. The bass notes climb up and down with the ambiance, like high choppy waves. Corruptive Agent relates to the frustration of the ship's crew, who are stuck on a motionless ship for dark days and nights. The guitar shreds melodically at a faster tempo, with an unmistakably European style. Accompanied by heavy bass lines that are played in epic musical arrangements.

Ephemeral starts with the beeping sound of a more stable pulse, on a life support system. The lyrics seem to pertain to a person who's reflecting on living a reckless life of relentless pain. A heavy song that sounds very similar to other tracks on the album. It gradually picks up the pace and intensity. The melodic textures are reminiscent to early Hypocrisy. The drums beat forward with melodic beat patterns and consistent cymbal crashes. I'd compare the drummers style to Chris Powelson of Blessed Death. Cult of Dysphoria tells about the crew finding it's nautical course in daylight. Then the cult member wakes up to a dreaded reality. He soon realizes that committing suicide is spiritual sacrilege and condemns the suicide cult leader for his crimes. It's a faster song, that jams with some hard shredding, sort of like Bleeding Fist. Then interspersed with epic interludes of flashy guitar hooks, with a Scandinavian style like Unleashed.

Yeah this is a twisted tale, it's one of the craziest fucking concepts that I've come across in an album. It's an original story but the music isn't very original, it's often repetitive with recurring rhythmical approaches. About five of the songs are slower and far from sounding spectacular. They are lighter and ambient with an overly melancholic mood. Offering little in the department of headbanging and lying out in the doldrums of musical mediocrity. The musicians don't sound like amateurs. The music just doesn't consistently showcase the potential of the instrumentation, like hungry artists who are looking to sign to a label. Maybe it could be a halfway decent start, if they can play more kick ass music on their next album.