Ash Twin Project

French quintet explore their fascination with the unknown via cosmic modern prog rock

Body//Gamers may recognise that Ash Twin Project, a band underpinned by the duality of hazy, meditative post-rock and the intricate snap and crack of modern progressive metal, have lifted their name from the cult video game, //Outer Worlds//. But the vision of a band originally brought together by drummer Thibault Claude for his graduation recital, dives far deeper into those far-off realms than simply name alone.

“I was immediately struck by a powerful sense of nostalgia while playing it,” Claude explains. “The music, the environment, the lore – everything left a deep mark on me, and very few works, even in music, will remain as strongly ingrained in my memory.

“The game also came at an important time in my life,” he develops. “It’s an ode to curiosity. It represents the perfect balance between complexity, philosophy, and the thirst for understanding the unknown on one hand, and [offers] raw, visceral emotion with the other.” Such a dichotomy echoed his creative visions.

Claude speaks of an “immediate chemistry,” that fizzed through the group. Coupled with their mutual wanderlust – both musical and fantastical – their inevitable evolution found them unifying, through their compositions, the feelings the game evoked in them with twisting technicality.

“Let’s be honest, some of our drum patterns are essentially polymetric exercises,” he laughs when asked of the band’s emotional side. “We’d miss a huge part of what makes music meaningful if we focused only on that technical aspect. The real challenge was in creating glue between those different identities and making it coherent. A lot of ideas ended up in the trash!”

Musically, they lean into atmospheres one could drown in, citing Oceansize and Anathema as heart-stirring influences, while the dark, jagged bite of Leprous and Opeth – two other bands whose DNA is all over the band’s debut record, //Tales Of A Dying Sun// – lurks in the shadows; waiting.

Lyrically, the spirit of //Outer Wilds// is the record’s lifeblood as they explore such as the pursuit of knowledge, solitude, and life cycles. 

“Much like the game, we aimed for a poetic and melancholic approach,” Claude extends. “Some might see societal and real-world parallels, but above all, we wanted to tell a story that resonates with the game’s ideas, diving into our fascination with the unknown.”

For fans of the game, there are Easter eggs aplenty. Samples from its soundtrack have been manipulated and woven into their tapestry, while //Moon// represents their most ambitious crossover.

“The final sample is a major theme from //Outer Wilds// – one of the most beautiful ones, heard when the sun is about to die – played in reverse. The challenge was to seamlessly integrate the theme while playing forwards over the top of it in a way that felt natural to the listener,” and it gives the record a stirringly imaginative punctuation mark. Vitally, they don’t rely on the game to cast their magic; for listeners craving an evocative hybrid of intelligent and not-too-heavy modern progressive metal and soothingly swathing atmospheres, Ash Twin Project are destined to win you over.

PROG FILE

LINE-UP: Églantine Dugrand (vocals), Romain Larregain (guitar), Robin Claude (guitar), Stéphane Cocuron (bass), Thibault Claude (drums)

SOUNDS LIKE: Leprous sparring with Opeth in a vast astral arena crafted by the atmospherics of Oceansize

CURRENT RELEASE: //Tales Of A Dying Sun// releases April 4 via Kolonsphere Records. 

WEBSITE: https://ashtwinproject.bandcamp.com/

– Phil Weller