[Cover artwork by Michael Cloutier]
Prog, of course, is known for technical musicianship and songwriting complexity above all else, a reputation well-earned by the early giants of the genre and happily maintained by their progeny ever since. It’s also true that those things have come together too often in gratuitous grandstanding, leading to Prog’s reputation for soulless wankery, also well-earned and happily maintained.
One reaction to Prog’s chronic masturbation problem has been a focus by many more modern bands on atmosphere, texture, and cinematic scope over technical musicianship, still frequently intricate and complex, just not in the spotlight hungry kind of way. The common problem with that style of Prog is that it’s boring as shit.
Montreal’s Karcius navigates the space in between. Founded in 2001 as an instrumental jazz fusion band by four pals, Karcius spent the better part of two decades melding jazz with whatever complementary style best suited a musical idea. Their eclectic prog fusion echoed the sounds of luminaries across the musical spectrum like Return to Forever and Weather Report, Pink FLoyd and Electric Light Orchestra, Ozric Tentacles and Liquid Tension Experiment.
For 2009’s The First Day, Karcius introduced new lead singer and bassist, Sylvain Auclair, and in 2018 they released The Fold, the first of a planned trilogy of albums exploring the complexities of relationships and their underlying emotion and psychology. The Fold and 2022’s follow-up, Grey White Silver Yellow & Gold, are excellent albums that showcase the band’s ability to make complex songs that hold the listener’s attention with creative musical storytelling and without relying on technical flash. Black Soul Sickness is the band’s seventh album overall and the final chapter of the trilogy.
Looking at the cover art, the shift in tone from Grey White Silver Yellow & Gold’s bright and variegated palette to the stark black and white of Black Soul Sickness hints at the musical development within. Each album in the trilogy has been heavier and darker than what came before and Black Soul Sickness continues that trend. Similarly, the lyrics are cryptic and sharp, acknowledging the complexity of human experience in both our vulnerabilities and our tendency to exploit those of others.
Though the turn from instrumental jazz to dark, heavy prog was completed long ago, the structures now more closely modeled after prog rock and metal, the essence of jazz remains, particularly in the drumming, rhythmic interplay, and in the way each player fills the spaces between crafted pieces. The influences now tend toward well known quantities: Genesis by way of Dream Theater, Opeth, Porcupine Tree, and Riverside, Pink Floyd, Marillion and Pain Of Salvation.
But the new listener, however schooled in that class of influences, will surely be ill-prepared for the breadth of pop and R&B inspiration driving Auclair’s vocal melodies, coarse and stout as they can be. It’s not obvious whether he or the band made the conscious decision to pull from the FM radio melody makers of the 80s and 90s, or if he just has that soul, but the end result is supremely inspired vocals that add passionate fire to each song, especially in the choruses.
As if top notch vocals weren’t enough, Auclair is an extraordinary bass player, which is on display from the get-go on “Wallow.” The 13+ minute opener burns a low, slow crescendo from anxious, searching piano and guitar interplay to big riff prog metal of the modern style. It takes a few minutes to get there but the payoff is so sweet. Auclair’s prechorus and chorus are the kind that have you reaching for a lighter you (probably) don’t even carry anymore and he’ll have you headbanging in the bridges. The midsection breaks it all down for a bit of fanfare from Simon L’Espérance on keyboards, but it’s Auclair stealing the show again as he matches L’Espérance’s keys with the bass all the way up front in the mix. It’s very neat.
“Out Of Nothing” is a supreme combination of tension and release within a fairly standard prog metal structure and alt rock melody. The build to the first chorus is amazing, chirping riffs and propulsive beats driving the melody from underneath to such an effective pre-chorus that you might find yourself punching through the ceiling when the chorus hits. Like so many of Karcius’ songs, “Out Of Nothing” does not feature a solo. There is a bridge with a bit of melodic lead but the job of rousing the listener is left entirely to the song proper.
Like all good prog, there’s plenty of extras at work here around and between those killer riffs and powerful vocals. “Darkest Heir” uses keyboards tuned to sound like modulated vocals to emphasize the duality of human desires. “Rise” features guitar that makes it feel a little like the blues, especially in the clean picked bridge, which is a clever way of highlighting the song’s theme of struggle and resilience. “Slow Down Son” is bare bones piano, lo-fi scratchy rhythm, and gentle riffs that, together with a warm and poignant melody, answers the burning question of what it might sound like if Marillion covered a Seal song written by Peter Gabriel in 2026.
“Awakening The Spirit,” opens with a jazzy intro and a vocal performance that highlights the range and agility of Auclair as he moves effortlessly from light, smooth, cleans to gravelly roar and back. It’s a beautiful song that maximizes the power of slow crescendo to its ascendant chorus. And it’s here that Karcius finally offer up some fireworks, beginning with an understated guitar solo, a keyboard solo, brief and low-key, building together from simple to complex and then finally interweaving in a bit of dual soloing, albeit for a relatively short run.
At 45 minutes for 7 songs, Black Soul Sickness is an efficient album, especially after the long opener. That’s important because it seems to be consistent with the band’s aim of prioritizing the feel of the songs and their lyrics. There are virtually no instrumental acrobatic tête-à-têtes in the way of the old school. At the same time, these songs are made up of so much more than just emotive sounds and layered textures. Rather, the intricacies at work are crafted in service of the themes. While that means opportunities for showing off are dismissed in favor of musical devices that support the themes, the flashiness isn’t likely to be missed except when one is actively looking for those things. Deep listening, on the other hand, with lyrics and mindful attention, will surely be rewarded deeply by an album that speaks to the heart, because it comes from the heart.
