While Quo Vadis may not have had the most notoriety out of the plethora of death metal bands spurring up in the Québec area during the early 21st century, they certainly had proven themselves worthy amongst the elite tech death bands to have risen up from the province. Four years following their brilliant 2000 effort, Day into Night, they hit the recording studio again with a revamped lineup and high expectations from what had grown to a somewhat substantial fanbase. Defiant Imagination, like its predecessor, was expansion into new territories and yet an even more progressive approach, which is perhaps more prominent than on any of their past releases. While not entirely abandoning that distinct rockish vibe that had a strong presence in the previous album, they also retraced to their roots and took another stab at incorporating some classical influence. Essentially an equilibrium of passed efforts and new horizons.
Following the sudden departure of bassist, Remy Beauchamp and guitarist, Arie Itman, Bart Frydrychowicz had his hands full in trying to find a pair of suitable replacements. Recruiting soon to be (well, at the time) Neuraxis guitarist, William Seghers, and the already renowned bassist, Steve DiGiorgio, to fill as temps in the studio (couldn't have picked a better choice for the latter if you ask me). Stéphane Paré was also called upon for full-time duties in the vocal department. Not the most solid choice, but he has more depth and adds more substance than this lackluster predecessors. Production shines once again, not being overly sterile, but allowing all the instruments to flow freely with DiGorgio's fretless bass being one of the most prominent aspects in that regard. Speaking of whom, is an absolute monster on this release, which did not surprise me to the slightest. Laying down crunchy riff after riff on such tracks like "Tunnel Effect" or "Fate's Descent", or a wave of complex, progressive loops like on "Dead Man's Diary" or "Break the Cycle". Like with the majority of his albums, Defiant Imagination contains something from him that won't fail to impress you.
While not quite as grabbing as Day into Night, Defiant Imagination still delivers, albeit with a few blemishes here and there. There is definitely a very prominent, later era Death influence here, which is far more striking than previous efforts as opposed to the more European melodeath undertone that was present before. However, the band did not entirely abandon those melodic grooves and are still detectable in the likes of "Tunnel Effect" and the opener, "Silence Calls the Storm", which has an excellent build-up before dropping into an ocean of riffs underneath DiGiorgio's sporadic bass line and Bercier's relentless double bass. The strong progressive influence is abundant throughout this release. Tracks like "Break the Cycle", "Dead Man's Diary", and "Fate's Descent" flourish beautifully with intricate song structures, beautiful solos, and jazzy undertones. The former two especially, with strong build-ups before making the transition into surging, interchanging riffs with Bercier's complex double bass and cymbal patterns underneath. Flaws did exist however, as songs such as "To the Bitter End", and "In Contempt", are largely forgettable and bland. While "To the Bitter End" does contain some substance and a good sense of melody, "In Contempt" is entirely mundane, and just tends to drag on. The only real interesting thing about it is the opening bit with Bercier doing transitions from the ride bell to the snare. Other than that, I'd be content, if "In Contempt" just didn't exist as it's completely forgettable as soon as "Break the Cycle" kicks in.
Defiant Imagination also showed Frydrychowicz returning to his attempts in the integration of classical influence. Two interludes; "In Articulo Mortis", the first, has a strong gothic aesthetic, while the second orchestral piece, "Ego Intuo et Servo te", contains more of an Oriental vibe partially due to the harp tone. Both are very well composed pieces and a much more valiant effort than with their debut. The choirs flow perfectly with the orchestra and create a very haunting, enveloping atmosphere. In fact, I wish these pieces were more than just interludes, as they were two of the more exceptional tracks on the album. If Quo Vadis ever does happen to release anything else (going on 8 years now), I'd definitely suggest bringing back the classical influence.
To end the trilogy of Quo Vadis albums, I must say this was yet another impressive release. While not as captivating as its predecessor it was very well thought out, and beautifully composed. It soars with progression, and draws back to past ideas and refines them to nothing short of perfection. While Frydrychowicz may be the only original member left, I would be more than interested in hearing a follow up to this release. Defiant Imagination and all of its progressive beauty works, everything from the crunchy melodic riffs, to the magnificent solos, it's definitely an essential album for any enthusiast of the progressive variety of death metal.
84/100
Originally posted on Metal-Archives, September 25th, 2012
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