NEWS RELEASE
Montreal, QC – June 2, 2026
Canadian Progressive Death THE CONFLUX COLLECTIVE Unleashes “Devouring Light”
New Album “In the Wake of Saturn” Out June 2026
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L-R – Max Lussier, Jesse Brint, Mallika Sundaramurthy, Tommy McKinnon, Eric Burnet, Jeffrey Mott
PHOTOGRAPHER CREDITS: Joe Diaz, Derek Carr of Visionsinpixels, Mat Barbeau, Tania Hébert
Montreal’s extreme‑metal collaborative force Conflux Collective will release its long‑anticipated full‑length album “In the Wake of Saturn” on June 19th, 2026. The record marks the resurrection of a project once thought lost to time, rebuilt from the ground up by drummer, composer, and producer Tommy McKinnon (Derelict, Akurion, ex‑Neuraxis, ex‑Augury) after years of dormancy.
The album’s second single, “Devouring Light,” arrives next after the release of the first single and lyric video “Reincarnation.”
This second single showcases the project’s darker, slower, and more groove‑driven side.
“It’s a deep song with many twists and turns… Chase’s guitar mastery shines throughout and is crowned with a beautiful solo. The song itself is a doom-leaning, torturous piece that is a groove-filled and crafty maelstrom of heavy riffs and open chords. The bass line is rich with attitude. The words talk about witnessing an ecological disaster of epic magnitude,” says McKinnon
Listen to “Devouring Light” at the following links:
Lyric Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skYaLYoVjX8
Conflux Collective began as a spontaneous spark between McKinnon and guitarist Chase Fraser (Continuum, ex‑Decrepit Birth, ex‑Animosity) after a chance reunion in a Montreal fast‑food joint following a King Diamond show. As McKinnon recalls:
“We got talking and realized we actually played together at the San Francisco venue, the Pound… by the end of the first hour, we had a song pretty much done.”
Within six weeks, the pair had written and recorded their debut EP, “The Inception” (2016). But life’s unpredictability forced the project into years of silence until McKinnon revived it with renewed purpose, reconstructing the album from archived material, new compositions, and a completely DIY production approach.
“This is the first album I ever recorded on bass guitar… I had to figure out every note… it forced me to use my ears and think ‘out of the box.’”
Across eight tracks, “In the Wake of Saturn” delivers a progressive, brutal, melodic, and uncompromising journey through personal upheaval, transformation, and rebirth.
“A journey through pain, fear, defeat, survival, and finally rebirth… a true underground monster, made for those who appreciate and seek the unusual,” adds McKinnon.
Musically, the album fuses the ferocity of ’90s death metal with the precision of modern tech‑death. Lyrically, it channels deeply personal experiences, existential reflection, and the power to alter one’s destiny.
The record features a powerhouse lineup of extreme‑metal vocalists: Jesse Brint (Gross Misconduct), Mallika Sundaramurthy (Emasculator, ex‑Abnormality), Jeffrey Mac Dermott (The Monster Factory, Growlers Choir), Eric Burnet (Derelict, Samskaras), and Max (Derelict), who also contributes a blistering guitar solo.
Conflux Collective was built on the idea of merging diverse extreme‑vocal styles into a single, evolving entity. As McKinnon explains:
“The idea of a ‘collective’ came mainly from featuring many vocalists and bringing together different styles of extreme vocals to create something unique and diversified.”
Though the project has no plans for live performances, The Conflux Collective stands as a testament to collaboration without boundaries, a convergence of some of extreme music’s most creative voices.
Recommended for fans of Cryptopsy, Necrophagist, Decrepit Birth, Augury, and Beyond Creation, “In the Wake of Saturn” will be available on all digital platforms as of June 19th, 2026.
Album pre-save – http://confluxcollective.bandcamp.com/
Vinyl and CD pre-order – https://elasticstage.com/confluxcollective
Merch / Apparel available – https://confluxco-shop.fourthwall.com/
Lyric Video – Reincarnation – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nce0-kz3nTk
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Track Listing:
1. The Antidote – 3:02
2. Devoid of True Form – 2:39
3. Ethereal Executioner – 4:45
4. Devouring Light – 4:59
5. Blood from a Rock 4:18
6. Reincarnation – 3:20
7. In the Wake of Saturn – 2:29
8. Desperate Post-Humanist – 5:18
Album Length: 30:53
Album Band Line-up:
Guitar: Chase Fraser (Continuum)
Vocals: Eric Burnet (Derelict), Max Lussier (Derelict), Jesse Brint (Gross Misconduct), Mallika Sundaramurthy (Emasculator), Jeff Mott (Hollow, Monster Factory)
Additional guitar, bass, and drums: Tommy McKinnon
Track 1,2, 3, 6. Music: Chase Fraser. Lyrics: Tommy McKinnon
Track 4. Music: Chase Fraser. Lyrics: Jesse Brint
Track 5, 7. Music & Lyrics: Tommy McKinnon
Track 8. Music: Tommy McKinnon. Lyrics: Eric Burnet
More info:
https://www.facebook.com/confluxcollective
https://www.instagram.com/confluxco/
About: Formed in Montreal after a chance post‑show encounter, The Conflux Collective is a progressive technical death‑metal project built on collaboration, experimentation, and emotional depth. Featuring contributions from some of the genre’s most distinctive vocalists, the band blends the ferocity of old‑school death metal with the precision and ambition of modern tech‑death. In the Wake of Saturn marks their first full‑length album.
Album Recording Credits:
• All songs performed by: Conflux Collective
• All songs written by: Conflux Collective
• Produced by: Tommy McKinnon
• Mixed by: Jeanne Comateuse at Magma Art & Sound
• Mastered by: Jeanne Comateuse at Magma Art & Sound
• Album Artwork by: Filip Ivanovic
• Member of SOCAN
Affiliated links:
Mix engineer: https://magma-sound.com
Derelict: https://derelictmetal.bandcamp.com
Akurion: https://akurion-ca.bandcamp.com/album…
Emasculator: https://www.instagram.com/emasculator_bdm
Mallika: https://www.instagram.com/mallika_sun
Gross Misconduct: https://grossmisconduct.bandcamp.com
The Monster Factory: https://www.themonster-factory.com/en
Coma Cluster Void: https://comaclustervoid.com
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“this maddening musical force comprised of many of today’s best death metal musicians. – Austin Weber, No Clean Singing (EP The Inception, 2016)
“The Conflux Collective deliver their first song unto us, a brain scrambling ditty called “Lucid Hallucinations”. This new multi-national death metal group is definitely a band you’ll want to keep an eye on!” – Metal Injection (EP The Inception, 2016)
“Each song features a rotating cast of different vocalists and bassist on each song, with the only members on all three being guitarist/composer Chase Frasier (Continuum, ex-Decrepit Birth, ex-Son Of Aurelius, ex- Animosity, etc) and highly skilled drummer Tommy McKinnon (Akurion/Neuraxis as the only constants in this maddening musical force comprised of many of today’s best death metal musicians. The three vocalists on The Inception are: Mike Disalvo (Akurion/Coma Cluster Void/ex-Cryptopsy) on track one, Matt McGachy (Cryptopsy) on track two, and Beneath The Massacre vocalist Elliot Desgagnes on track three. All three songs on The Inception sound and unfold differently than each other, which bodes well for the groups future moving forwards! Jam below for some high-octane shred heavy tech-death that’ll bore a hole through your head. But do so in a finessed way of course!” – Metal Injection (EP The Inception, 2016)
“At just about 10-minutes in length, The Inception feels more like a teaser than anything else. But that’s just a consequence of how strong it sounds. If they continue to enlist the best of the best as they move forward with more material, Conflux could really be something special. A must-hear if you prefer your death metal on the tech-ier side of things (or you dig any of the members involved).” – Dead Rhetoric (EP The Inception, 2016)
“Helmed by guitarist/songwriter Chase Fraser (Continuum, ex Animosity, Decrepit Birth) and drummer Tommy Mckinnon (Akurion/Neuraxis), Conflux Collective is a new collaborative death metal project bent on both pushing the bounds of creativity within the genre and the culminating of ideas with other artists in the community.” – New Noise Magazine (EP The Inception, 2016)
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