Artist description A new form of Symbyo-metal.

Music Style SYMBYO-METAL

Musical Influences Devin Townsend, Vader, Testament, Cynic, Death, Slayer, Malevolent Creation, Dream Theater, Carcass, Arch Enemy, Dimmu Borgir etc ...

Artist History In May 1998, Franck Kobolt composes the first bits of a project named Chrysalid. Initially limited to 4 pieces, this project was intended to remain only at the stage of demo. But in June 1998, with the arrival of Phil Quist on additionnal composition and Corrosive Bob on vocals, an evolution is felt, the composition becomes faster and the demo ended up growing rich by new titles. At the end of a long year, it is finally a complete album which prepares. In June 1999, the band, officially named Symbyosis, gets in touch with Hidden Association to deal with the production of this record which will finish in January 2000. The album is 13 titles long and its name is Crisis. To make it sound better, the band has called some friends, as Oslanon Gerom on backing vocals, Karl on lead guitar and Cryopsis Entity on lyrics and backing vocals. In March, the single The quest of the dolphin appears on the Metallian magazine compilation. In July 2000 the band signs a contract with Listenable Records. In September, the miniLP The Fluid is out, followed by the full album Crisis in November 2000.

Group Members Corrosive Bob - Vocals Franck Kobolt - Guitars Nikos Kevorkian - Guitars Rob Veidt - Bass Tarik Karlsson - Drums

Instruments all

Albums The fluid, Crisis

Press Reviews Mark Barney Greenway (from Napalm Death) for Kerrang ! Not to be at all xenophobic, but the simple truth is that it's rare to be able to employ the words 'essential', 'French' and 'metal' within the same sentence. However, the Gallic grimace is getting ever more convincing, and if you like your chops a bit more tuneful and twiddly, 'Crisis' is unquestionably a masterpiece. Frankly, the instrumental talent herein is sufficient to make your prostrate release its payload repeatedly. Inheriting more than just said musical adeptness from deceased grinders Carcass, Symbyosis also add rippling keyboards that aren't just there to provide the occasional innocuous stab, making the overall shebang sound like Dream Theater gone postal. Vive la difference. Dimas from musica.mustdie.ru Melodic - technical death metal from France. It is a debut album of band. In the spring I could get their mini-album, on which I wholly managed to experience powerful potential of this band. And, new opportunity to enjoy by this super music. Very extraordinary symbiosis of technic death metal, sympho black metal and fresh original progressive melodies. An excellent material for a debut album. Thirteen beautiful and difficult compositions, extreme and atmospheric, brutal and aggressive in a complex is creating improbable effect. Shocking whirlpool of bright melodies, progressive riffes, unexpected changes of rate, magnificent arrangements, shattering rhythms and straightforward heavy guitar attacks. Heavy and dense sound, competently adjusted drum - machine, middlechanged vocal (both not growling, and not screaming), delightful guitar work. It is very difficult to not give in to attack of this album and to remain indifferent to this music. You will surprise pleasantly by this album. Kostas " BattleRager " Vasilakos from Metal Eagle After having listened to “The Fluid” EP as expected comes the subsequent full-length album of SYMBYOSIS named “Crisis”. The EP has given me a not so rough idea about what I would confront on the album. And that was unusually sick but at the same time ass-kicking and technical, at some point, industrial metal. And so it is. Beginning with a rather soft and calm track you think that songs of the same style would follow. You couldn’t be more wrong! With the end of the intro comes your entrance to a world of paranoia and anger. Psychotic riffs follow one another between the guitar and the drums (which is sadly played by a drum machine) and you feel you are wondering nightmarish industrial era where paranoia and monstrous mutation is dominant. Vocals that are in times clean or as brutal as they can get, unlimited blast beats not letting you relax after “calm” parts. Aside from two tracks that were contained in the EP (“To Decadent Souls” and “Quest Of The Dolphin”) I had taken a taste of this work by a compilation of their company containing “Ephemeral Life Conductor” and “Der Waltz Von Gehangen (Instrumental)“ which were the first tracks that shaped my good opinion about the band. Vive la France (YEAH, RIGHT!)! VSGreg from Violent Solutions Apr�s un mini-lp "the fluid" absolument somptueux, Symbyosis est attendu au tournant avec son premier album. Il est amusant de voir l'engouement autour de ce groupe qui �tait encore totalement inconnu il y a quelques mois. La raison en est certainement qu'on avait pas entendu grand chose de r�ellement nouveau ces derniers temps. Symbyosis ont sign� sur Listenable Records, label r�put� pour son ouverture d'esprit et pour sa capacit� � d�nicher de petites perles (Crest of Darkness entre autres). L'album d�bute par une courte intro et se poursuit par 2 titres d�j� pr�sent sur The Fluid "To decant souls" et "Quest of the dolphin". La suite est largement � la hauteur du mini-lp et transcende encore un peu plus le g�nie cr�ateur de nos petits frenchies. Difficile toutefois de cataloguer Symbyosis dans un genre particulier. Les rythmiques se font parfois grind, parfois groove, parfois hardcore, parfois doom. Les guitares sont plut�t "carcassiennes", le chant fait tr�s indus, les claviers sont magnifiques et parfaitement int�gr�s, les solos de guitare sont discrets mais beaux, le son est excellentissime et la cr�ativit� atteint ici son summum. Comment r�sister � la puissance de "Ephemeral life conductor", � la rythmique de "Triton (the great light)", "� la beaut� de "Kahl Palyn", � l'intensit� de "Acrid Nebula", � la langueur de "der Waltz von Gehangen" ou aux m�lodies de "Quest of the dolphin"? Pour une fois, absolument aucun reproche � formuler, tout est parfait du d�but � la fin. Symbyosis se hisse 5 degr�s au dessus de toute la production fran�aise et m�rite amplement sa place dans le gotha du m�tal mondial. Je pr�cise toutefois que je n'ai pas d'actions chez Listenable et que ce n'est que mon cœur qui parle. J'ai vers� une larme lors de la s�paration de Carcass, de Coroner ou d'Atheist... Maintenant, le dommage est r�par� et la note maximale est gagn�e de main de ma�tre. Ron from www.vampire-magazine.com Here's another high quality release on Listenable Records! Symbyosis sounds like a mix of doom, black and death with a little bit of Theory In Practice and Soilwork (just listen to "The quest of the dolphin"). Meaning that this band plays a catchy and technical extreme metal. I wouldn't compare them to Dream Theater as the bio states but that these guys can play is obvious! The most technical parts are the solos which sound extremely great. But fortunately, Symbyosis also know how to write some killer songs. Just listen to "To decant souls", "Ephemeral life conductor", "Acrid nebula", "The epileptic modern artistic non believer", "Synthesis" or the instrumentals "Kahl palyn" and "Der Waltz van Gehangen" to get an idea. The production is good, powerful and the instruments are in balance. On this album they use a drum computer but this is not annoying, I'll bet even Ricardo can listen to it! So, all in all this album is a very good debut and I'm very curious how this band will further develop itself. Be sure to check it out! Hellric from Ars Metallia Le m�tal fran�ais est en plein essor : apr�s Misanthrope, Godkiller, Penumbra, voici le temps de Symbyosis !!! Symbyosis est un le � groupe � de deux hommes, Frank Kobolt (guitare, basse, samples, claviers), et Corrosive Bob aux vocaux. Autour de ce bin�me sont venus se greffer par la suite guitariste, bassiste et batteur pour assurer les concerts, mais l�album est l�œuvre de deux allum�s susmentionn�s. Pourquoi s�appellent-ils Symbyosis ? Et bien tout simplement parce que leur musique met en symbiose (presque) tous les courants du m�tal, c�est une alchimie chaotique et hautement instable de death m�lodique, d�indus � la Fear Factory, de trash, de prog�, de symphonique et de power !!! Et le pire est que �a fonctionne, �a cartonne m�me si cette entit� est tout de m�me un peu indigeste et que �a part dans tous les sens. Une immersion prolong�e est requise pour que la symbiose op�re correctement. Au niveau technique, Frank Kobolt ne craint personne, il ass�ne rythmiques b�ton et solos audacieux, et ses arrangements aux claviers sont inventifs et opportuns. Le manque de batterie � live � ne se fait absolument pas sentir, la bo�te � rythmes utilis�e reste relativement organique. Un s�rieux espoir et qui sait l�aube d�un nouveau style m�tallique ? Reviewer from Corridor of Cells Every now and then a band comes along that truly tries to inject something new into the scene and this month that band is definitely France's Symbyosis, I dare say the best band that country has ever produced. I would describe their style as a cross between late Carcass (really similar style of riffing), coupled with the experimental jazzy antics of outfits like Cynic or Fredrik Thorgendal's Special Defects, all supported by excellent production and truly virtuoso guitar-work. The guitarists of this band are incredibly impressive, they manage to merge heaviness, melody and complexity into a mix so cleanly played, it's mind-boggling at times. The songs vary easily between fast blasting sections and slower, spacier moments where the melodic guitars have more room to interact with the progressive keyboards in the back. Brutal, death/black vocals (often distorted for extra effect) provide a very effective voice-based weapon to nicely round up the unique mixture of darkness, heaviness and experimentation that is Symbyosis. The jazzy influences are evident in some of the clean guitar interludes that are ingeniously mixed in between the brutality that dominates this album, and I have to admit they sound very fresh and give the whole release a well deserved unique style. The keyboards play more of a secondary role, used predominantly as background and dynamic accents, thus never overshadowing the dominating guitars, yet perfectly complimenting them. The drumming is extremely tight and powerful, although it does sound suspiciously like a very well programmed drum machine at times (or maybe they were simply using triggers when recording the drummer). As much as I usually dislike guitar solos, I have to admit that Symbyosis pulls them off pretty well and manages to actually turn them into a positive addition to each song (unlike many other bands who simply resort to solos when they run out of ideas). If this is how good this band's first release is, I'm scared to think how good they'll be in five years. This is truly death metal for the 21st century, brutal yet melodic and progressive at the same time. Ricardo from www.babylonmagazine.net Did you think to exactly know what prog metal and death metal mean? You have to know that from today the frontier between these two kinds of music doesn't exist anymore, if there was! Yes because these three French guys, called "Symbiosis", have decided to say what they think about this music, they have upset death metal mean putting in prog and brutal passages. Complex tracks, allucinating passages, brutal cut and there are for all the disc slow prog parts and speed brutal parts. It seems that playing in this way is simple. However there are some problems: in fact sometimes the prog passages aren't very linear. But honestly, considering that it's the first album (if we exclude a demo and a MCD), I think that in the future they could do better. R�v�rand Alden from Rock in Chaire Apr�s le mini CD "The fluid" sorti il y a peu, les SYMBYOSIS enfoncent le clou avec Crisis et sa musique violente, technique et m�lodique. Imaginez Carnival in Coal copulant avec Dream Theater et vous aurez une id�e de la richesse des compos. Les fran�ais jettent au feu les oeil�res et m�langent savamment le prog, le heavy, le death, le black... SYMBYOSIS, ou l'invention de la partouze musicale de grande classe... Peter Johnston from www.burnthesun.com Symbyosis' first full-length album, Crisis, is groundbreaking. The band's use of a drum machine continues to amaze me listen after listen because it is effective (that means it is difficult to tell that there isn't a real drummer playing on the disc). Sure, certain parts of specific songs sound like the percussion has been programmed, and that's somewhat annoying, but those segments are few and far between. For the most part, though, the drums just sound really tight and extremely fast. I have absolutely no complaints about that. Now here's a description of the rest of the music (which is played by real people). The guitars and bass are manned by one extremely inspired and talented Franck Kobolt whose riffs fly like a hybrid of Heartwork-era Carcass and new school black metal, with a hint of the Cynic sound. The leads are similar in nature, but lean to the more technical Cynic style. Great stuff, lemme tell you! The vocals are what you'd expect for this type music, favoring the black metal raspy side of things; they are powerful and convincing. Add in a fair amount of decent keyboards, and you will have a good idea about Symbyosis' music. Though none of the tracks on Crisis hold a candle to the awesome “Thibalt” on their previous EP, most of them are good if not excellent. Some of my favorites include “The Obscure Periplus of Thanos” because it is fairly conventional but has some amazing riffs, bridges and solos, “Quest of the Dolphin” for its rather epic nature and togetherness in songwriting, and “Self Mutation” because of its consistency works one specific riff over and over. Tons of other tracks are excellent on this disc, and I recommend it to anyone interested in music that is as challenging as it is worthwhile. Satan from X-trem � Crisis � est un album absolument intrigant. Premier CD complet pour Symbyosis, il combine des influences emprunt�es � des groupes aussi vari�s que Death (�poque � Symbolic �), Edge of Sanity (�poque � Crimson �), Samael (�poque � Passage �), At the Gates (�poque � Slaughter of the soul �) et surtout Pestilence (�poque � Spheres �) et Meshuggah. Ce nouveau groupe fran�ais reprends le flambeau du death m�tal progressif l� o� Atheist, Cynic et Pestilence l’ont laiss� mort et enterr� au d�but des ann�es 1990. � Crisis � est � la fois un album innovateur et, si on y met le moindre effort, accrocheur. Sur son premier album, Symbyosis a construit des pi�ces d’une densit� technique largement au-dessus de la moyenne. La ma�trise des instruments y est presque parfaite. Le batteur (ou la batterie programm�e!?!?) utilise des techniques extr�mement vari�es qui vont du blast beat vers des parties jazz�es. Idem pour les guitares, elles nous font parfois penser � du Dream Theatre en version death m�tal coupl� avec des influences emprunt�es au jazz. On croirait m�me entendre Patrick Mammeli (Pestilence) lors de certains solos. Les vocaux sont d’inspiration death m�tal et sont similaire � ceux de Jeff Walker lors de la derni�re �poque de Carcass avant la dissolution du groupe anglais. J’attribue �galement une mention honorable aux claviers. Ils sont pour le moins d�concertants � la premi�re �coute et risquent de rabrouer plus d’un auditeur. Selon moi, c’est vraiment l� la carte cach�e de Symbyosis. Influences nouvel �ge, film d’horreur, n�o-classiques, progressives sont au menu tout au long des 52 minutes de l’album. La pi�ce � Der waltz von gehangen � nous rappelle m�me parfois les th�mes m�di�vaux employ�s par des groupes tels Summoning et Enid. Finalement, la production est claire comme du cristal et colle parfaitement au style musical de Symbyosis. Premier album �poustouflant de la part de ce trio fran�ais. Fortement recommand� aux amateurs de musique progressive qu’elle soit death m�tal, power (mais il faut aimer les vocaux death m�tal) ou m�me black m�tal. Vraiment, un produit rafra�chissant et intriguant qu’on ne se lasse pas d’�couter gr�ce � son originalit� et � la richesse de ses influences. John Franck, a fan A reviewer stated that he thought Symbyosis' sound is akin to Dream Theater playing black metal. I would tend to agree as long as it is Dream Theater circa When Dream and Day Unite, and you include melodic death into the mix. The definition of progressive death metal, Symbyosis incorporate atmospheric keyboard runs, quickly changing guitar riffs, distorted blackened vocals, and, yes, drum programming to create a relatively intricate and unique sound. Virtually none of the riffs are vey technical, but the many time changes create complex songs. The use of the drum machine works for me except for the cymbal sound which can be annoying at times. This is strongly recommended for those of you who want to hear something a bit out of the ordinary. Mortiis from www.multimania.com/slipknot/chroniqueblack.html En ce moment, les bons albums semblent pleuvoir plus que jamais, et parmi eux le dernier Symbyosis qui est en fait leur premier LP, sorti apr�s un EP "The Fluid" d�j� plus que prometteur. Plus qu'un "simple" black progressif, leur musique est un m�lange de groupes tels que Cynic, Dream Theater, W.A. Mozart (v�ridique !), pour ne citer que les plus �videntes de leur r�f�rence. J'ai d�couvert leur musique (eh oui, parlons donc un peu de moi :-) rassurez-vous, une fois n'est pas coutume) j'ai d�couvert leur musique disais-je, avec un extrait de "The Fluid" repris au d�but de Crisis et nomm� "To Decant Souls". Ce titre semble r�sumer l'optique g�n�rale du groupe : il y a une voix black, des passages tr�s "thrash" � la Cynic, des symphonies envo�tantes, des riffs prenants. L'album entier n'est qu'une parfaite organisation de m�lodies, de rythmes, de voix, et si vous ne r�ussissez pas � appr�cier les talents du parolier Corrosive Bob, vous pourrez au moins admirer celui du compositeur Franck Kobolt, notamment lors d'instrumentaux magistraux tels que "Synthesis", qui cl�t l'album en beaut�, ou "Der Waltz von Gehangen". On n'esp�re plus qu'une chose : que Symbyosis continue comme �a… je ne sais pas si on peut parler de perfection, mais on s'en approche vraiment de pr�s. Reviewer from www.chez.com/metalzon Avec ce premier album, Symbyosis fait fort. Imaginez un choc musical entre Death, Pestilence, Dream Theatre, Carcass, Nocturnus ou Samael. Vous obtenez un style oscillant entre death brutal, progressif, m�lange explosif d'agressivit�, de brutalit�, d'atmosph�rique. Oui, la musique de Symbyosis est celle de tous les paradoxes. Le trio fran�ais bouscule d�s les premi�res secondes d'�coute, tous les repaires que nous avions jusqu'� pr�sent. Tout cela pour nous sortir un album magistral. D'une beaut�, d'une intensit�, d'une violence rarement atteintes dans ce genre d'exercices p�rilleux, plus d'un s'y �tant d'ailleurs br�l� les ailes. Symbyosis s'en tire avec panache, modelant chaque style pour qu'il �pouse � la perfection les autres. Avec Symbyosis, le vrai sens de la musique en tant que langage universel prend tout son sens. Et esp�rons que ce chef d'œuvre ne restera pas inaper�u, ce serait vraiment un sacril�ge. Vous savez ce qu'il vous reste � faire, vous pr�cipiter chez votre marchand de plaques favoris et d'acheter tout de suite Symbyosis. Reviewer from www.supernalmusic.com I was expecting not to like this album, since neither the band name nor the album title spoke to me in tenebrous, deranged ways. There was no biography enclosed with the promo, so what you will read is a raw reaction to the music. SYMBYOSIS, in the way they combine their guitar work with the keyboards, and especially in the context of the way the latter sound, somehow reminded me of NOCTURNUS at times. Except that this is more staccato, and perhaps a bit like THEORY IN PRACTICE: the riffs are choppy, which lots of starts and stops, and entirely rhythm-based. These are strange, syncopated, and assemble in complex ways to form very technical songs, with many parts and changes. The arrangements are densely packed, with plenty of counterpoint and melodic leads used to add texture, as well as samples and other compositional devices. And, while the pace tends to remain in the mid-tempos, slow parts as well as blastbeats have been intelligently applied to create contrast. A highlight for me is the sound of the guitars, which is dry and very broad, with a sharp, cutting top end and a very hard, punchy, heavy bottom end. In fact, the production of this very intricate and brilliantly executed work is absolutely superb, as it affords great clarity to material which in the hands of a less competent producer could easily sound like a total mess. Stylistically, this is clearly a very sophisticated brand of atmospheric, extremely technical Death Metal, which will appear to fans of the two bands I mentioned above, as well as others like SUP (ex-SUPPURATION) and MISANTHROPE. Worth slapping on. Reviewer from obskure.free.fr Quelle claque ! Symbyosis, avec ce premier album, nous cloue sur place. "Crisis" est un condens� de toute la virtuosit� de Franck Kobolt (homme � tout faire sur cet album) et de Corrosive Bob(hurleur de son �tat) et de tout ce qu'ils ont pu �couter auparavant, mais arrang� � leur sauce, c'est � dire quelque chose qui laisse un gout rapeux et agr�able � la fois. Cet album n'est pourtant pas imm�diat, et comme les bonnes choses, il faut le gouter, le laisser reposer, puis y revenir. Plusieurs fois. Et ensuite on en profite.Les ambiances voluptueuses ("der Waltz von gehangen" - �norme! ) et enivrantes succ�dent aux passages black dirig�s de mains de ma�tre, servis par des chorus death m�lodique ou heavy, voir progressif ("The obscure periplus of Thanos"). Toutefois, l'execution des morceaux laisse la part belle au feeling et n'est pas une course au BPM.On imagine le temps et la patience n�c�ssaire pour composer de telles pi�ces r�unissant tant d'id�es (le magnifique "Triton") et de hargne. Symbyosis propose un album m�tal, dans tous les sens du terme. Et les amateurs de m�tal, quels qu'ils soient seront combl�s. Le seul point n�gatif peut se situer dans un son de guitare un peu faible par rapport � ce que meriteraient les compositions, mais c'est l� �tre exigeant. Bref, un album qui devrait figurer dans vos priorit�s. Les groupes fran�ais (eh oui !) se reveillent et la qualit� est au-del� de ce qu'on pouvait attendre. A suivre.

Location Saint Cloud, hauts de seine - France

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