Review by Saxy S for Dissimulator - Lower Form Resistance (2024)

I often find myself being too harsh towards releases under the "technical" banner due to a number of structural issues that keep me from enjoying them subjectively. Now I know that this is part of the point since no one has the exact same tastes in music styles, but I'd like to be more open towards technical music going forward and rate them based on what they are, rather than what I want them to be. 

And so Dissimulator have come along to glowing praise and I feel like most of it is well deserved. As the thorough, audible assault that Lower Form Resistance is, I have to commend this albums songwriting prowess. It has been a really long time since I heard stylistic whips and tempo jolts pulled off as smoothly as these ones before. Technical music has a sporadic feel to it (like mathcore) most of the time, which makes it nearly impossible to latch on to the main theme or idea that a song is constructing itself around. And while Lower Form Resistance still does have enough of that, something about these interjections feel well thought out and connected with integrity. 

The compositions themselves are mostly adequate. To be honest, I found parts of this debut to be quite pedestrian in the way they were presented. Such as "Cybermorphism/Mainframe" starting off with a clean guitar intro, before inevitably resorting back to the same technical death/thrash timbre and performance that we've heard countless times throughout the record. It does not really give the record a lot of time for breathing or regeneration following a long stretch of continuous moshing. However, because the structures of these tunes are so well enforced, I tend to forget that there hasn't been a calmer interlude, which tells me that I'm having a lot of fun being chased down by these riffs relentlessly for over forty (40) minutes.

By association, the instrumentals are not very diverse, but they don't have to be. The bass is not the most upfront, but it can be heard providing some foundation behind the guitar riffing, which is fierce. The percussion is extremely well performed and frankly carry this albums intensity. The first time Lower Form Resistance brought in the modulated vocals a la Cynic's Focus was really cool and matched the literal technical nature of this album. These guys are clearly influenced by fellow Quebec tech-thrashers Voivod, and these vocals interjections felt like something that should have always been there. However, I felt them becoming less impactful the more they were used, which is a little bit disappointing. But they are not nearly as bad as the unfiltered clean singing during "Automoil & Robotoil"; the monotone delivery does not help with keeping the albums intensity up and do not highlight the bands strengths. Otherwise, the harsh vocals are a  little choppy, but impactful.

Overall I enjoyed Lower Form Resistance a lot actually. The technical aspect is both figurative and literal; where the album production sounds almost synthetic with its pin-point precision. The performances, while certainly not innovative, are backed up by some of the best compositions I've heard on a technical album in a very long time. The album is produced like gold, and the only aspects that really bugged me were the vocals, which are already sparse as it is on this record. A solid find if I do say so myself, and would be a great recommendation if you frequent bands like Voivod, Revocation or Cryptic Shift.

Best Songs: Warped, Outer Phase, Hyperline Underflow