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NEWS RELEASE
Montreal, QC – March 11, 2019
For fans of Symphony X, Dream Theater, Haken, Plini, Ayreon, Neal Morse Band, Genesis, Rush
MetalInjection Premiere Violin Progressive Metal CYDEMIND’s VIVALDI Cover In Stunning Music Video “Winter”
After releasing their debut album “Erosion” in 2017 and writing the videogame soundtrack of NavyBlue and the Spectrum Killers in 2018, CYDEMIND is back with a new single and music video called “Winter”. The song is an arrangement of one of Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Season violin concertos.
Watch “Winter” via MetalInjection.net at the following link: http://www.metalinjection.net/video/cydeminds-violin-metal-shred-was-made-for-winter-in-this-beautiful-video
As the Montreal-based quintet is led by classical violinist Olivier Allard, it was natural for the band to showcase its classical sound in this music video.
“It’s always been in CYDEMIND’s side-projects to make metal covers of classical music pieces, says Olivier. What better way to start than with one of my favorite violin concertos by Vivaldi!”
Co-directors Vincent Allard and Juliette Guerin hopped in the project without hesitation:
“Vivaldi’s Winter violin concerto is already such a cinematic piece with lots of contrast. It was a great challenge to find landscapes that could match both our view of Quebec’s winter while maintaining CYDEMIND’s highly energetic approach to the piece.”
The video was shot in various locations in Quebec, Canada. Scheduled to be filmed in March 2018, the project was postponed to February 2019 due to bad weather.
“As much as we had no luck last year, karma was on our side this year, says guitarist Kevin Paquet. The weather was fabulous, I think it definitely highlights the splendor of our Canadian winters.”
“Winter” was recorded at The Grid studio in collaboration with producer Christian Donaldson (The Agonist, Cryptopsy, Beyond Creation). The artwork was created by CYDEMIND’s own drummer Alexandre Dagenais.
“Winter” is available for stream and download on Bandcamp, iTunes, Spotify, and all other major platforms, where you can also find CYDEMIND’s debut album Erosion (2017).
About:
In a world where so much music is bland and generic, CYDEMIND is a breath of fresh air! Mixing progressive rock, jazz, classical, and progressive metal, Montreal-based CYDEMIND is a special and unique band, one we’ll be hearing a lot more from in the future. Influenced by such bands as Dream Theater. Symphony X. Haken, Neal Morse Band, and jazzmen like Avishai Cohen and Tigran Hamasyan, violinist Olivier Allard describes their sound as “violin meets instrumental prog metal!”.
Prolific artists, CYDEMIND released its first EP ‘Through Mists and Ages’ back in 2014 and soon after its single ‘What Remains’. After a few years of writing and refining their sound, the quintet (violin, bass, piano, guitar, drums) came back with their first full-length album. Entitled ‘Erosion’, its six tracks are centered around the theme of nature and its persistence through time. Epic is the word here, with one track clocking in at an impressive 27 minutes. ‘Erosion’ was released independently on Bandcamp, iTunes, Amazon, Spotify and all major online retailers.
CYDEMIND then branched off a bit from the usual metal band musical path to produce the music for the indie video game ‘Navyblue and the Spectrum Killers’. The game released in September 2018 and is available on Steam. In addition to writing the whole soundtrack for the game, CYDEMIND also released two singles ‘Navyblue’ and ‘Lights of Iberia’ as bonus content for the game.
To further expand their musical soundscape and reach new audiences, the versatile band released its first music video ‘Winter’ in March 2019. The single is an arrangement of Vivaldi’s ‘Winter violin concerto’ from the Four Seasons. Shot in various locations in Quebec, Canada, the video highlights both the majestic Canadian winter and the highly energetic performance of the band.
In addition to their recording experiences, the band has performed many times in the Montreal area since 2011 in venues like Foufounes Électriques, Katacombes, Theatre Plaza and more. They recently created the first edition of Proggy Nights in Canada, a small tour that reunited 3 Canadian prog bands in Québec City, Montreal and Toronto.
Aside from their performance expertise, Olivier (violin) and Camille (piano) have also been teaching their instrument for many years. Olivier is a doctorate student in violin performance at University of Montreal, while Camille graduated from the classical piano program at CEGEP St-Laurent in Montreal.
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“presented what will easily be among the top prog metal albums of the year…” – Metal Underground
“An epic album in every sense of the word” – Games, Brrraaains & A Head-Banging Life
“Cydemind have an excellent album on their hands with “Erosion.”” – Progressive Music Planet
“Everything a person could want in his or her progressive metal is contained within the album’s six tracks. Heavy, complex riffs? Check. Knotty, constantly-shifting time signatures? Check. Shreddy solos? Double check. Winding, non-linear song structures? Epic track lengths? Uplifting melodies? Check, check, and check. And then there’s that violin. It’s pretty clear from the first few notes that Olivier Allard has classical training, because he attacks his instrument like Yngwie Malmsteen with a bow.” – Indy Metal Vault
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