4 out of 5

Label: Emergence Records

Produced by: ?

If internet translation can be believed, Presque Maudit – for us non-French speakers – means “Almost Cursed.” This band name, combined with Temp​é​rature Variable’s no-context lithograph cover art, which appears to have been clipped from an old Parisian newspaper and depicts an octopus attacking a deep sea diver; further combined with the complete lack of track names; with the only other information via a faded photo of the group eating pizza, with some thank yous and engineering credits… Somewhere amidst this melange of smirking mysteries there is a sense of the kind of band PM might be, both playful and serious at the same time.

They’re on Emergence Records for this release, co-released with like 90 other labels, including Head Records and Gurdulu, and since it was released in 2020, maybe it wouldn’t be so unusual to go to the bandcamp page and glance at the descriptive tags, with one in particular ringing a bell: instrumental math rock.

All of this is fitting. And if any of these details are meaning anything for you, the first minute or so of opener Intergalactique will, as guitars and drums build on a clipped intro beat into some layering and then exploding riffage, calling to mind the non-stop pummeling of 5ive, and the mathy deftness of Breadwinner, and the abstract plucking of Chevreuil, and then some backhistory of King Crimson prog informing all of the structural complexity. Presque Maudit may seemingly not bring something new to this scene, but that’s not exactly true: zero in on all of the most technical moments of these acts and stretch them into one, 4 or 5-minute song; now before we get to something like Behold… the Arctopus, PM dials things back to metal, and legit chords, and rocking out, and forefronts melody alongside the showmanship. This allows every track to twist and turn in ways that sometimes feel like we dodged away from a bigger moment, until the group shows that they twisted towards something even bigger.

Some slightly off-beat transitions are charming or frustrating, or both; the album is given a live sound as a result, which is added to by some barely-there background chanting. While the instrumental purists might shrivel back at this mention, it is really backgrounded, and comes across as the group just being so impassioned that they’re brought to kinda sorta hum along with the tunes. I’m right there with you.

If there’s anything getting in the way of this besting all that other badass metal in your catalogue… it’s the recording. It’s mastered pretty damn low, and I don’t know that the production, even when turned up, really captures some of the stop-start tension most effectively. This sound superficially relegates the band back to indie league status, and while they obviously are indie, the music is that of champs. And deserves to be heard by many more ears!