(written by Islander)
Today we help introduce the death-metal-addicted among you to a formidable new force — a New Zealand trio named Fournier, whose self-titled debut EP will be released next month by the also formidable Caligari Records.
We’re told that Fournier were inspired not only by pioneers such as Morbid Angel, Immolation, and Timeghoul but also by contemporary artists like Hyperdontia, Phrenelith, and Engulfed, and they harnessed those inspirations to create tense, violent, and overwhelmingly oppressive death metal.
Many of those inspirations shine through in the song from Fournier that we’re premiering today, an exhilarating marauder named “Cast Adrift“.
“Cast Adrift” builds slowly — like the slow blossoming of a nightmare. Orchestral instruments and cold winds gradually swell, and howling voices cry out like caged beasts, maddened and eager to escape. It’s the kind of overture that will put a chill on listeners’ skins and send shivers down their spines.
Once that swelling wave of fear crests, the riffing throbs and the drums hammer in sudden bursts, and then the song breaks open in a vicious surge of violently shivering and seething riffage coated in grit, knee-capping beats, magma-like bass tones, and monstrous growls.
The tremolo’d riffing maniacally swarms, fiendishly soars, and cruelly eviscerates, while the lead guitar ecstatically flickers. The drumming continually shifts between steady patterns and convulsive eruptions, augmented by lots of double-bass rumble.
It’s an electrifying experience, and while the song is undeniably savage, the fleet-fingered fretwork is appreciably adventurous (as well as borderline-insane). Enjoy!
The self-titled EP includes four tracks and a total of 20 minutes of music that (to quote the Caligari press materials) “explore themes of societal and environmental oppression and collapse while positing a non-dualistic understanding of existence”.
FOURNIER is:
Joe Wright – vocals & guitar
Daz Murray – guitar
Jeff Lepper – bass guitar & drums
Quintin Ellery – sound design & immoral support
CREDITS: This self-titled debut was written and recorded in Wellington and Levin, NZ, 2023-2025. It was produced and engineered by Joe Wright. It was mixed by Chris Johnson at Electric Bunker in Boston, MA, and was mastered by Zach Weeks at God City Studios in Salem, MA. It features logo and insert image by Buried Pigs Head and graphic design by leej.
Caligari Records will release the EP on June 3rd, on CD, cassette tape, and digital formats. Pre-orders are available now, and we’ve also made it easy for you to hear the previously released song “Supreme Ornaments“.
PRE-ORDER:
https://caligarirecords.bandcamp.com/album/self-ttitled