Octavus Lupus - 2023 - Octavus Lupus

(57:21; M&O Music)

Track list:
1. Genese 1:17
2. Fireball 6:31
3. Internal Violence 5:03
4. Caged Tiger 7:03
5. Vampire's Masquerade 5:59
6. Chant A La Lune 3:31
7. Talking with Wolves 5:30
8. Castle of Sand 5:50
9. A Nos Portes 5:30
10. Per Sempre 5:05
11. Tragedy 6:02

Line-up:
Guillaume Baeyens - guitars
Stephane Cleret - keyboards
Karen Hau - vocals
Eric Tabourier - drums
Manuel A. Ramos Castillo - bass


Prolusion.
French band Octavus Lupus was formed back in 2013 when the founding members decided to leave another band and form their own instead. Over the last decade they have worked at finalizing a stable line-up, and have released a demo and a couple of singles along the way. In the fall of 2023 they released their debut album "Octavus Lupus" through French label M&O Music.

Analysis.
This album has been marketed towards an audience with an interest in bands such as Dream Theater and Stream of Passion, and the band's chosen self-description as far as style is concerned is indeed progressive metal. While I can see where they are coming from in that regard, from my perspective at least the progressive elements of the style of metal the band explore on this production is perhaps more of a secondary nature.

The description symphonic metal is rather what comes to mind when listening to this album. Elements from classical symphonic music are brought into play here, in a manner comparable to other symphonic metal bands in which the keyboards play a vital role and layered keyboard arrangements are the order of the day when those impulses are explored more in depth. Octavus Lupus does alternate a bit between the more classic symphonic metal sound and a more guitar dominated drive though, with a liberal amount of tight and hard sections with dominant guitar riffs and drum patterns to match that drive the song onward. More often than not offset by majestic passages with a more loose and flowing expression, and occasionally with a gentler interlude making an appearance too.

In between passages of this nature we also get the occasional tip of the hat towards the progressive metal tradition, with suitably majestic guitar and keyboard combinations of the kind that progressive metal fans will recognize, and in terms of song structure the band does pull in some cues from this department as well. While I can't really say that this is a defining aspect of the album as a whole, it is certainly an undercurrent throughout. That the band may toss in a few extreme metal flavored details here and there is a charming little expansion of this aspect of the album too.

In the vocal department we get a powerful female frontwoman that is the dominating force, and a singer that can belt it out just as much as staying in more control and deliver the occasional vocal bite. With regular surges into operatic vocal landscapes, the latter detail adding a bit of an emphasis to the symphonic metal tendencies I would describe as being the more core and defining nature of this album as a whole.

Conclusion.
I generally find the songs here to be solid affairs, albeit not material that I suspect will find much of an audience beyond the confines of the symphonic metal universe. This isn't a band that as of 2023 have managed to tap into the more broadly appealing creative wells of a band like Nightwish, but for those with a more firm and existing interest in symphonic metal as a style this is a band that should come across as interesting because they do blend in a few progressive metal tendencies here and there rather than having a more purebred go at the style. Hence if symphonic metal with a bit of a progressive metal undercurrent is a landscape you generally find fascinating, then I suspect this is an album you might find to be an interesting experience.

Olav "Progmessor" Björnsen, October 2023

Links:
https://www.octavus-lupus.fr/
http://www.m-o-music.com/