EPK – Sunbeam Overdrive – Diama (2023) (Tentacles Industries / Season of Mist)
Publicist – Jon Asher – jon[@]ashermediarelations[.]com
“An adventure, solitary, a life journey, its trials and tribulations translated in the form of a wide sound surrounding the listener to try to confront them with themselves, their own experiences, their own emotions …. make them start their own journey.
This record is about elevation, travel, adventure, and energy. It’s meant to lift you up yet make you endure the storm both inside and outside of yourself. Although not designed as a concept album, Diama nevertheless turns out to be crossed implicitly by a coherent line, which appeared to us once the album was finished. This line is that of the crests of the summits, more precisely a notion of ascent, elevation, exterior as interior. It translates into the quasi-cinematic succession of pieces forming an initiatory journey throughout its 10 songs.” – Sunbeam Overdrive
For fans of Periphery, Architects, The Human Abstract, Born of Osiris, Cynic
Band Name: Sunbeam Overdrive
Album / Single Title: Diama
Release Date: May 12, 2023
Label: Tentacles Industries
Distribution: Season of Mist
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“Out Of Plato’s Cave – One of Six cool new prog tracks you need to hear this week (March 16, 2023)” – Prog Mag
“Bang this album into your vehicle’s sound system or blast it through your headphones, as you rock out to ‘Diama’ by Sunbeam Overdrive. It is THE soundtrack for your journey of solitary existence!” – Metal-Rules
“SUNBEAM OVERDRIVE gives us a very high-end album, talented musicians, in the service of an intelligent music which does not forget to arouse emotions, the perfect balance in my opinion, too often I find the proguous eager for technicality getting lost and forgetting to play with his heart, these guys have not taken this wrong. I should have gone to the Zenith.” – Profil Prog
“As a first work, Diama has been a great success and shows Sunbeam Overdrive as a playful and highly energetic newcomer who can definitely set accents in the scene. 9/10” – Sound Magnet Magazin
“DIAMA impressed me on first listen and continued to impress me with each subsequent listen; there’s something genuine and infectious and even somewhat joyous about it. Maybe it’s because hard rock doesn’t grip me much these days, but Sunbeam Overdrive have managed to. This is a surprisingly self-assured debut and a very satisfying listen from a young group with a bright future ahead of them. Recommended tracks: Slave to the Void, Diamond Shape, Shen” – The Progressive Subway
“This one is interesting, a bit prog, some groove metal, thrash stuff. clean and harsh vox. Cool!” – The Mosh Pit – WORT 89.9FM (Madison, WI)
“Whether you want to call it prog or not, Sunbeam Overdrive does their best to let Diama speak with riffs. At their catchiest Sunbeam Overdrive carves punchy numbers from djent-ish groove and Alice in Chains vocal harmonies that could have been easy targets to record from radio to flip phone ringtone (“Slave to the Void,” “Shen”). Taking cues from fellow Frenchmen Klone whose moody tunes similarly rest in a land of slippery assignment, a tilted sense of melancholy pervades other flowing numbers that feature slithering hooks and arena-sized refrains (“Diama,” “Diamond Shapes”). But in the face of the mild solemnity that accompanies that element of Diama, Sunbeam Overdrive make sure to pop in a bit of fun with mid-album shaker “Crimson Stains” featuring the bounce (but not the rap) of KROQ Weenie Roast2 artifact 311—tastefully nu if not dangerously inventive.” – Angry Metal Guy
“As far as the songs go, I love the whole album, but ‘Diama’ was amazing. ‘Slave To The Void’, ‘Crimson Stains’, ‘Deaf And Blind’, and ‘Out Of Plato’s Cave’ were all great. There’s a cover of ‘Hard Sun’ from Canadian singer/songwriter Gordon Peterson as well. They’re doing a version closer to the Pearl Jam version, but either way they do a great job with it. Overall, I have to give this one a 9 out of 10 “Flaming Fists” due to its creativity, musicianship, production and overall song-writing. It’s one of the most diverse and heavy albums I’ve heard lately, it deserves a much bigger audience.” – Rock You Radio
“SUNBEAM OVERDRIVE is nevertheless the unexpected little discovery of the moment.” – Score A/V
“Following a promising EP released in 2019, this first album by Sunbeam Overdrive immediately shows the full potential of an inventive group, without giving into gratuitous one-upmanship. Admittedly, their progressive metal is technically well above average and most of the titles damn convoluted, some sometimes flirting with djent, but the Marseille quartet masters their subject perfectly and knows how to write real songs, even allowing themselves to slip in a few discreet nods to Alice In Chains/Soundgarden grunge. A rich and dense first album for thrill seekers.” – Guitar Part.fr
“Soon, on •• Tentacles Industries •• , the release of the new album by French quartet Sunbeam Overdrive. It’s called Diama and Crimson Stains is the new single to entice you for the rest of the album soon to come. Scream, djent, progressive, alternative metal and all sorts of core elements come at you from all sides. Circling around you like a riff tornado, this single is but one of the many tracks that hurl you through space and time, and the storm both inside and out of you. It fits perfectly with the concept that seems to be surrounding the album…” – Stoner Hive
“Standing out from the progressive metal pack with their interesting touches of 90’s alt-rock, Sunbeam Overdrive tickle the senses with their wandering intro of Ascending and the choppy, raw, and animated title track. Before they really lean into the 90’s alt-rock soundscape with Slave to the Void. Where sections of heavy groove come crashing down on the head. Followed then by the anthemic and manic energy of Crimson Stains, one of the album’s more intense moments as Sunbeam Overdrive go quite hard and heavy here…. Though if you’re after something with a more serrated edge, Out of Plato’s Cave will cause some damage. Sunbeam sounding both furiously heavy and grandiose in equal measures. Another highlight of the record simply because of the hectic pacing.” – Games, Brrraaains & Head-Banging Life
“Welcoming us in an oriental atmosphere (which can also evoke the last Hypno5e for once), Diama really starts with the title track, pulsed and muscular, it takes us without hesitation into the rich universe of the Marseilles managing to stall us unstoppable Devin Townsend- inspired vocal melodies .” – Eklektik-Rock
“A production to seek out by those who enjoy vibrant and melodic heavy metal explored with a little bit of a progressive metal attitude and spirit.” – Progressor
“Sunbeam Overdrive nous délivre un premier album vraiment convaincant. Du grant art !” – United Rock Nations
“There are plenty of tracks that I love on this album but it is perhaps ‘Shen’ which is my favorite. The big sound is put in parentheses, favoring the alternative form to metal, the guitars play subtlety with beautiful djent figures and the vocals are almost an accompaniment to the rhythm section. D I A M A is a very nice discovery.” – NeoProg
““Diama” is a very good moment of powerful and racy metal, combining softness and emotion on this disc as icy as it is burning. Some will regret the obvious or smooth and unsurprising appearance, but it doesn’t matter because the intoxication is there. To discover urgently, because even if it is not a dazzling diamond, its qualities make it a precious stone which will reveal its shimmering colors over multiple listenings. 4/5” – Music Waves
““Diama” est un très bon moment de metal puissant et racé, alliant douceur et émotion sur ce disque aussi glacé que brûlant. Certains regretteront l’aspect évident ou lisse et sans surprise, mais peu importe car l’ivresse est au rendez-vous. A découvrir d’urgence, car même s’il n’est pas un diamant éblouissant, ses qualités en font une pierre précieuse qui révélera ses couleurs chatoyantes au fil de multiples écoutes. 4/5” – Music Waves
Band Name: Sunbeam Overdrive
Album / Single Title: Diama
Release Date: May 12, 2023
Label: Tentacles Industries
Distribution: Season of Mist
Track Listing:
1. Ascending (1:47)
2. Diama (6:14)
3. Slave To The Void (5:14)
4. Crimson Stains (4:49)
5. Diamond Shape (7:10)
6. Junction : Buhl’s Eye (1:20)
7. Deaf And Blind (4:47)
8. Shen (5:45)
9. Out Of Plato’s Cave (5:05)
10. Hard Sun (5:49)
11. Fainted Core (Bonus Track – Live Acoustic) (6:08)
Album Length: 54:08
Album Recording Credits:
• All songs performed by: Sunbeam Overdrive
• All songs written by: Tom Abrigan (except lyrics for Diama, Slave To The Void, Crimson Stains and Out Of Plato’s Cave by Karim Arnaout, and Hard Sun by Indio’s Gordon Peterson, covered by Eddie Vedder)
• Produced by: Tom Abrigan
• Mixed by: Tom Abrigan
• Mastered by: Brett Caldas-Lima (Tower Studio: Devin Townsend, Cynic, Pain of Salvatio)
• Album Artwork by: Christophe Dessaigne (Midnight Digital)
Album and Live Band Line Up:
Tom Abrigan – Guitars & Vocals
Karim Arnaout – Vocals
Laurent Duclouet – Drums
Bruno Morgana – Bass
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The album as a whole (LYRICALLY & MUSICALLY):
This record is about elevation, travel, adventure, and energy. It’s meant to lift you up yet make you endure the storm both inside and outside of yourself. Although not designed as a concept album, Diama nevertheless turns out to be crossed implicitly by a coherent line, which appeared to us once the album was finished. This line is that of the crests of the summits, more precisely a notion of ascent, elevation, exterior as interior. It translates into the quasi-cinematic succession of pieces forming an initiatory journey throughout the 10 songs:
“The Ascent… (1. Ascending) of an immense mountain, a power monster: You… Me… Us, the Nanga Parbat.
Doing it via a glacier that no one has yet crossed… (2. Diama)
Doing it without being a slave to anyone or anything, facing the void in front of you just like within yourself (3. Slave To The Void)
Ignoring having been treated like a puppet from whom you could take whatever you wanted then leave it in a corner. (4. Crimson Stains)
Seeing that diamond shape again, over there, through the mist. (5. Diamond Shape)
Reaching the junction, seeing the eye of the Bull. (6. Junction: Buhl’s Eye)
And continuing, even deaf and blind… (7. Deaf And Blind)
Invoking what is most ancestral in us. Without ever going astray. (8. Shen)
Coming out of our own Plato’s cave. (9. Out Of Plato’s Cave)
And reaching for the sun… The hard, high sun. (10. Hard Sun)
There, then… We’ll know a little bit who we are…” – SUNBEAM OVERDRIVE –
Track by track (LYRICALLY & MUSICALLY):
1. Ascending: An instrumental intro that places the listener at the beginning of their ascent of a Himalayan Mountain (Nanga Parbat). It’s airy, bewitching, and foreshadows significant events…
2. Diama: The first real track on the record, powerful, aggressive, and catchy but also airy and progressive. Lyrics were inspired by an extremely intense, burning, sudden, ephemeral, and ultimately volcanic adventure. Volcanism is the metaphor spun throughout the text, because it evokes fusion, lava flows, eruption, and therefore, in the background, carnal, erotic union; heat that burns, but that fertilizes afterward (there’s nothing like a volcanic rock for a fertile soil). And in the context of the whole album Diama, which turns out to be an initiatory journey in the form of the ascent of a mountain, with all that this represents in terms of trials, doubts, determination, dizziness, and vertigo, the figure of the volcano is inscribed in the field of heights, of mountains.
3. Slave To The Void: The band’s desire to lay the foundations for a more alternative, urban, and raw sound. It ends with a pronounced airy side that is redundant but pays homage to more alternative influences such as grunge or 90s metal. The lyrics evoke the paralyzing power of the void, whether an actual void like a precipice or an abyss, or inside ourselves, and the strength it takes to lift yourself from the entropy and apathy that life can bury you in. It’s an invitation to keep your head up and become the sign you are vainly waiting for to start living.
4. Crimson Stains: The band starts with a faster song, with a more punk spirit, reminiscent of early Soundgarden or Pearl Jam albums, but with more metal/progressive riffing. The lyrics are about the mental load and burden, and sometimes physical aggressions that women are faced with; based on the testimonies of many and only just trying to imagine how it feels like to live with such a disadvantage in a patriarchal world…
5. Diamond Shape: An autobiographical track, slow, and airy but heavy and sad. Reminiscent of Black Sabbath, Tool, and a sad period in the life of one of the musicians who take stock of what his life has been like in the form of various images, especially memories of a mountain in the Alps, which looks like a gigantic diamond from a distance, and how it feels when everything you have built for years collapses.
6. Junction: Buhl’s Eye: To talk about ascents again, and in particular that of Nanga Parbat (Diama being a glacier adjoining the mountain), the junction of 2 routes on one of the sides of this mountain owes its name to Hermann Buhl. This piece is an aerial instrumental featuring a guitar solo to define a milestone that is being crossed. Altitude, lack of oxygen, a brain on the verge of asphyxiation, mirages…
7. Deaf And Blind: This piece is intended to be heavy, dramatic, and catchy to translate the anger of a people against the elites, the system in which they are trapped, and the questioning of their existences.
8. Shen: A very ethereal piece whose text confronts today’s China with its spiritual ancestral past.
9. Out Of Plato’s Cave: A very energetic piece with djent and progressive accents to mention Plato’s allegory of the Cave, describing how difficult it is to look away from the illusions that easily feed our minds, to stand your ground when everyone around you thinks you’re a fool, to look for the light, for elevation, for the truth, and have the strength to keep your eyes and soul open when it hits you.
10. Hard Sun: Into The Wild was a milestone in our lives, and we felt that Eddie Vedder’s interpretation along with all the images, emotions, and impressions the film triggers, deserved a cover with the Sunbeam Overdrive sound. It goes well with the entire record topic, and makes for an amazing solar ending, after ascending, looking into the abyss, sadness, oppression, and memories, after finding the courage to escape from Plato’s cave: it’s a big hard sun that frees us all.
11. Fainted Core (bonus track): We wanted to pay tribute to the 90s MTV unplugged concerts, so we actually did half a dozen takes of that song recording sound and image, and picked the best version for a very simple yet aesthetically pleasant video already available on YouTube.
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Hailing from Marseille, southern France, SUNBEAM OVERDRIVE is mixing progressive metal and ’90s alternative rock founded in 2019.
Hard at work since day one, the band quickly released its first 3-track EP and performed their very first show at famous German Euroblast Festival in October 2019.
Sunbeam Overdrive was about to hit the stages when the Covid-19 pandemic started… In turn, and after a few line-up movements, they started producing their first full length album “Diama”, to be released worldwide in 2023.
Sunbeam Overdrive:
Tom Abrigan – Guitars & Vocals
Karim Arnaout – Vocals
Laurent Duclouet – Drums
Bruno Morgana – Bass
Discography:
2023 – Diama – LP (Tentacles Industries / Season of Mist)
2019 – Sunbeam Overdrive – EP
Shared Stage with: Psykup, Ten56, Ze Gran Zeft, Kvark
Tours and Festivals:
2019 – Euroblast – Köln, DE
Sponsors / Artist Endorsements: Vola Guitar, SP Custom, Skull Strings, Hyraw, RocknFreeLife, Carl Thompson
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