FORME – Flux

If Progressive Instrumental is your musical bag, then here’s something new for you to sink your teeth into. The band is called Forme and they are new, fresh, and out of Montreal, Canada. So far all they have to their credit is an EP titled Flux. The EP was released sometime in May of 2006, but since the band hasn’t been outside the Montreal area that much, little is known of them. Hopefully this EP will change all of that because the bottom line is these musicians have more a huge amount of talent. Whatever they have done so far seems to be working, and after just one listen, they’ll have you hooked.

Forme began in the summer of 2002 as an acoustic project between guitarist Tom Daigle and guitarist Andy Kerr. Working on all original material, mostly Progressive in nature, it was decided by both that a full line-up would be required in order to achieve what they have envisioned. In January of 2003, bassist Tony Zavaglia joined in on the project. The three musicians rehearsed for about a year and a half, writing and perfecting their new material as it came to them. It wasn’t until May of 2004 that the last piece of the puzzle was added: drummer Noah Hassan. The four-piece band was now complete, ready to take on the world with their instrumental virtuosity and proficiency. The relentless practicing and perfecting would surely prove useful beyond any expectations they had at the time.

Flux is a tease in a sense of the word. The four tracks make you beg for more. To alleviate that problem, Forme will be going back into the studio in the summer of 2007 to record their first full-length album, entitled Transformation, to be released in 2008. Look for it to be an audio-visual experience, using numerous changes and melodic progressions to convey their emotional message.

Very noticeable was the fact that three out of the four tracks don’t have names, but instead have symbols, numbers, and a finite series math equation to label them. The fourth track does have a name and is titled “The Mishaps Of Blasphemy II.” Regardless, the music itself from this EP should open the eyes of many.

Noah Hassan, the drummer, can knock down walls with his insanely powerful double bass drumming. He uses drum rolls inside of his double bass barrages that are so different today and extremely difficult to do. The two guitarists, Tom Daigle and Andy Kerr, both can play just about any genre asked of them. The EP has them showcasing their abilities separately, while at other times doing that back and forth – give and take – where needed, at other times playing in unison. Last but not least, there is Tony Zavaglia, the bassist. They say that the bassist and drummer create the foundation of the band. They sure as hell create a very distinctive sound for Forme, and the sound of Tony’s bass is just so beautiful.

Varying between Progressive Instrumental to Progressive Instrumental Metal, the sound of the EP is incredible, with the third track being frighteningly close to Tool. The fourth track, which has some singing (and talking and whispering), is the weakest. But, outside of that one distinction, this EP deserves a high grade for the excellent work and musicianship that went into producing it. Hopefully its follow-up performance with Transformation will not disappoint one bit.