I enjoy discovering and supporting new bands, and it never ceases to amaze me the sheer amount of undiscovered talent just waiting to be consumed. It is also interesting how searching for information on a band can help you learn about other new things, such as the ancient Roman city in Morocco that I was previously unaware of that the name is apparently inspired by. This band is Montreal progressive technical death metal band Volubilis, who is releasing their debut album, “Theasterion,” on July 10, 2026. The brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Miguel Marcheterre-Pina initially began as a solo project but has evolved into a fully formed 5-piece band, melding myriad influences into a unique brutal metal assault. This is extreme progressive metal built on a tech death foundation, bringing in elements as diverse as old school death metal, black metal, classical music, and neoclassical shredding heavy metal. The default tempo is fast and furious, incorporating plenty of melody into the speedy attack. The drums are insane, thunderous pounding and furious blastbeats with a heavy helping of technical fills. The guitar riffs are utterly crushing, as are the solos, virtuoso level in their melodic glory. The bass work is also quite nice, low end destruction with its own deft fret work. The vocals are almost exclusively of the harsh variety, with a thrashy gutteral along with occasional blackened touches, with only a brief glimpse at cleans late in the final track. Thematically, the album is an in-depth sci-fi story with rich lore, something that would be cool to see on the big screen. The underlying themes almost feel like an allegory of today, where specific perceptions related to impending or current events can spur chaos and a faster path to demise. Volubilis definitely brings to mind bands like Archspire and Fallujah with the speed, technicality, and sci fi themes, but they bring their own unique spin that is fun.

“Le Flamboiement Stellaire” stampedes out of the gate, blazing riffs and tornadic drums supporting a gnarly growl. Off rhythm patterns and sweeping guitar leads dominate the soundscape, navigating varied rhythms while the vocals alternate between deathly and blackened growls. The middle section shifts gears completely, the pummeling coming to a grinding halt as moody acoustic guitar picking takes centerstage, quickly building to a nice extended guitar solo. A brief vocal bridge leads to more technical meandering, with some killer drum fills and guitar leads. This is a great opener that sets the stage for the rest of the album.

Title track “Theasterion” opens in cinematic fashion, epic orchestration soaring over the crushing riffs and blasting drums. After a nearly one minute intro, you get a nice old school death metal throwback that transitions to a polyphony of meandering guitar lead over straightforward beats. Throughout the course of the song, you get blastbeat fury and furious gallops, jolting start/stop rhythms, and plenty of progressive stylings that weave neoclassical shredding and flowing melodies with polyrhythmic aggression. Vocals are mostly a thrashier growl, with occasional ventures into blackened territory. The song is relentless and rarely slows pace while delivering technical wizardry throughout. 

“Homo Cumulus” starts with a slick mini bass solo, kicks into a driving riff, throws some varied rhythms at you, then crushes you as it races ahead. There is plenty of speedy intensity, but the bias is mid-paced that feels heavier and faster due to the drive and complexity of the drums. This allows the riffs and leads to unfold organically amidst the varied rhythms without ever losing their edge while providing a progressive feel as it navigates from one passage to the next. The final third of the song sees a return to the fast aggression that started the song, just amped even higher, before a complete pivot to passionate deft acoustic guitar picking that closes things out.

“Ashes & Embers” bludgeons you for the first 90 seconds with a blend of insane tech death and blackened fury. You get a reprieve with a brief guitar solo that transitions into a noodley guitar lead over a slightly subdued pace, adding nice texture to the song, only to quickly return to a raging attack. The rest of the song navigates blasting ahead with less chaotic guitar-driven sections, before ending with a baroque piano swell that segueways perfectly into the next song.

The piano continues along with syncopated drums and guitars as “The Prism” begins, before running you over with a blastbeat assault. This is the only instrumental on the album, 4 minutes of musical goodness incorporating liberal amounts of classical music elements and neoclassical shredding that gives it a symphonic death meets power metal feel at times. The piano is incorporated quite well, the guitar leads are plentiful, and the bass gets several opportunities to show off. Progressive, technical, and melodic, it is a feast of varied rhythms and plenty of speed that I can imagine would be amazing to experience live.

Closer “Unukhalai Supernova” feels like a supernova in its approach, Archspire-like sweeptastic tech death blazing speed colliding with an extra slab of heft. There are even some mild deathcore elements that add to the brutal feel of the first half of the song. Just shy of midway, everything stops except for orchestration, creating overarching atmosphere that serves as a backdrop for the reintroduction of the other instruments, featuring a powerful bass-driven riff. Here we get the only cleans on the album, though they are far in the background and get overshadowed by the growls that follow. The speed returns while the piano lurks in the shadows, guitar strings smoking as the solos ensue. The ending of the song is bombastic, a tempo slowdown allowing the orchestration to shine and the vocals to sound anthemic, before knocking you over one final time and furiously blasting to the finish. 

With just 6 songs and a runtime a bit over 30 minutes, this album flies by. There is plenty of variety, melody, and speed, keeping things interesting throughout. The clean vocals tease was almost a surprise, and I would have loved for it to be more prominent in the mix, as well as utilized a bit more frequently. Overall, this is an impressive debut, and I look forward to seeing more from Volubilis, which hopefully includes a live experience in the near future. You should check this one out!