Puerto Rican progressive metal unit Avandra's sophomore effort Descender was written in the dark after Hurricane Maria by frontman and band mastermind Christian Ayala Cruz. So of course it stands to reason that behind all the technical wizardry and challenging songwriting, Descender is pissed. Which is why I'm so excited to premiere this record for you all today. Without knowing its background, Descender is a fantastically progressive record that manages to write songs that happen to be dazzlingly difficult, not just dexterity exercises to show off. But by knowing the record's background, it adds a purpose to the edge and allows you to really dig in to their aggressiveness.
Descender features guest solos by keyboardist Kevin Moore (ex-Dream Theater, Chroma Key, OSI), Richard Henshall (Haken), Christopher De Léon Jones, Israel Romero Pérez and additional percussion programming on the closer "Q.E." by Daniel Schwartz (Astronoid). Descender was recorded by Schwartz and mastered by Magnus Lindberg (Cult Of Luna).
Here's what Avandra had to say about the record, which you can pre-order here.
We at Avandra are super stoked to finally be able to share with you our second full-length album, Descender! This album was done with a lot of blood, sweat and tears (tears made from Hurricane water), and we couldn’t be prouder of it! And thank you, Metal Injection, for presenting it to the world!
