Uneven Structure -- Februus

10/10

My "this is going to be one of my favorite albums ever" reaction to Uneven Structure's debut, Februus, was essentially immediate. The opening ambient tones of "Awaken" immediately struck a chord with my ears. As a drumroll suddenly brings the song into a heavy groove, with vocalist, Matthieu Romarin, coming in spitting fire, I found myself loving what the band was doing. Then, as the song shifts into a passage that allows Romarin to sing in a soaring, atmospheric, yet somehow gruff voice, I started to think that maybe this was something special. As the song reaches a quiet ending of Romarin singing, and chiming, cathedral-of-the-stars guitar sounds, I felt my anticipation building. And then "Frost" came through the speakers and blew my mind.

"Frost" explores absolutely epic dynamics, musical rockslides, the trickle of a glacier sped up by fire. At this moment, Februus becomes a sort of progressive metal classical epic, reminding my of longform pieces like Orff's Carmina Burana or Holst's The Planets. Yes, these are perhaps heady comparisons, but Februus goes there, due to two major contributing factors.
The first are the dynamics in the style of music the band choose to play here. The way the heavy, down-tuned and aggressive grooves, along with Romarin's screaming, contrast with the ambient guitar textures and spaced out, meditative moments, feels elemental. This is very well showcased by the video I've embedded above, which has to be one of the most evocative visual treatments ever done for a heavy song. Ice, fire, and looming waves are all well-showcased. They're a perfect representation of what the band does here, and also, Uneven Structure look cool as hell playing inside of some ancient mountain monastery, while sparks rain down around them. It's a stunning video.
The second factor is the structure of the album as a whole. "Awaken" matches its title in sound, starting things off hazily before exploding. "Frost" and "Hail" continue this more bombastic opening trio, and reinforce the elemental, natural elements of the album with their titles, as well. The star-evoking instrumental, "Exmersion" leads into the album's more settled mid-section, again mirroring the structure of a classical suite. These middle songs continue the feeling of evoking nature, with "Buds" bringing to mind early spring greenery slowly shooting up through thawed soil. The band also do a great job of working in some conflict and feelings of opposition into the final song in this middle movement, "Quittance," before the track eight ambient instrumental, "Limbo." Again mirroring classical music, these track four and eight instrumentals almost feel like intermissions.
Then comes the incredible payoff, in the form of the river-rushing climax of "Plenitude." "Plenitude" is indeed a bounteous harvest of sound, beginning with a building, near ecstatic drum-pattern, before bursting into a full band and vocal display that shifts, builds and changes, as Romarin seems to be on the verge of epiphany. The song keeps featuring new climax after new climax, wonder upon wonder, until an almost unbelievably amazing emotional catharsis 6:10 in, where Romarin releases a beautifully screamed lyric and suddenly launches through the heavens, and the song emerges into the repeating, eternal groove of instrumental closer, "Finale," which evokes lush rolling hills, covered in fields that have been hard-worked throughout the album, now blooming more rewardingly than ever seemed possible, under a bright sky of infinite stars. That album cover nailed it.
A major attribute which increases this more impressionistic, metaphysical interpretation of Februus is Romarin's stunning, technically proficient performance. Romarin vocalizes in English with a thick French accent, meaning...well, you can't quite understand what he's screaming or singing. That's an asset in this case, as the music is so evocative, with Romarin's voice simply acting as another instrument, that the listener can attach their own meaning to Februus' rich emotional arc.
Februus is one of my favorite albums of the 10's (if not my favorite). It's been with me for nearly a decade (I first discovered it in early 2012, several months after it was released), and it has done nothing but grown in my estimation. It's both an enviable and unenviable statement from a band just charting their path--enviable because a band would be lucky to hit upon a work of genius like this once in several lifetimes...and unenviable because after that work's creation, that same band's following work will have to succeed it.

2011 Basick Records
1. Awaken 6:35
2. Frost 6:00
3. Hail 5:55
4. Exmersion 2:54
5. Buds 7:20
6. Awe 3:01
7. Quittance 6:29
8. Limbo 2:19
9. Plenitude 7:17
10. Finale 8:05