Canadian technical death metal band Apogean have launched their debut full-length album, titled Cyberstrictive. Released on March 8th, 2024, by The Artisan Era, this record follows their initial EP, Into Madness. Featuring new vocalist Mac Smith, formerly of Decrepit Birth, the album delves into themes reflecting the detrimental effects of technology on society.
In discussing the gear used during the album’s production, Robert Tam explained his choice of instrument and setup. “All of Cyberstrictive was recorded on my Dingwall NG2,” Tam stated. He continued, describing the attributes that make the Dingwall suitable for Apogean’s sound: “There’s a certain mid-range characteristic to the Dingwall that has me going back to it whenever I’m recording for Apogean. Since the first EP, every Apogean bass recording has been with this Dingwall. It handles down-tuned and overdriven bass so incredibly well. There’s no flub at all. Once you’ve played and recorded with one, you realise why Dingwall has become the new standard for modern metal bass tones; that being said, in regard to live shows, I’m hoping to find a way to rotate in some of the other basses in my collection, including an Ibanez SR Prestige and a recently acquired Warwick Thumb BO.”
Regarding the tuning and technical specifications, Tam noted, “For this album, we’re tuned to Drop A. The longer scale length on the Dingwall means I don’t need to go for a very heavy gauge string for the low A, which in turn means a lot more clarity in the low end.”
Tam also touched on the recording process itself: “Nearly every track was recorded using the same pickup configuration: both pickups engaged in series, a setup synonymous with the quintessential ‘Nolly tone’. It’s beefy and punchy, without sacrificing low-end clarity. I had the onboard Darkglass Tone Capsule EQ disengaged for the recordings. I prefer to keep my physical signal chain (including onboard EQ) as simple as possible so that I can maintain tone consistency across the recording sessions,” he said.
“We’ve recently switched out both guitars and bass live rigs to a single Neural DSP Quad Cortex. There’s a lot of power in that little box!”
The bass player also described the straightforward recording setup and digital tools used for Apogean’s debut: “From my Dingwall, the signal goes to a Radial JDI Passive DI box and then right into the interface and DAW. All tracks are recorded as DIs. Once we’re in the box, the Neural DSP Parallax plugin does all the amp simulation and major tone shaping for the bass tracks. It’s a wonderful plugin and is incredibly easy to dial in. Honestly – we’ve found that the default tone setting gets you 90% of the way there. We love the whole suite of Neural DSP products. For Apogean, we’ve recently switched out both guitars and bass live rigs to a single Neural DSP Quad Cortex. We have all the scene changes automated via MIDI. There’s a lot of power in that little box! For my own home recordings and studio projects, I’ve got the Parallax and Darkglass Ultra plugins for bass, and the Fortin Nameless and Omega Ampworks Granophyre for guitar. All great products, and again, so easy to dial in killer tones.”
On the topic of crafting bass lines for Apogean, Tam shared his approach, “A lot of the bass lines are crafted melodically around the rhythm guitar lines… So rhythmically, I’ll tend to stick closer to what the kick drum is doing.”
When asked about what might attract listeners to Cyberstrictive, Tam highlighted the growth and development of the band’s sound. “This album has some of the most brutal technical riffs/sections and also some of the most groove-focused head-banging worthy passages,” he explained. “We’ve spent a lot of time between the previous EP and this album honing our sound. Every measure of every song is very deliberate and intentional. We’ve purposely added flavors of more brutal death and slam influences to our existing arsenal of progressive and tech death metal stylings. Without getting too much in the weeds of niche sub-genres, I think there’s something for anyone who’s a fan and enthusiast of death metal in general to enjoy.”
Cyberstrictive is now available through The Artisan Era on vinyl, CD, and digital formats.
