Interview with Quintessence

16 Jan 2022 - Thorsten

Usually we do not go back-to-back with video-interviews but we wanted to once more show our love for a young French Post-Rock band from Lyon, whom we already featured on our special for the wonderful Post.Lyon Festival at the end of May: Quintessence! Thorsten had a cool chat with the guys and found out a lot about them and their music. And we are also happy that one of our questions did not end in a split of the young hopefuls ;-)

Formed in Lyon in 2018, Quintessence hit the ground running, releasing their debut EP, Demain, après la Lune in September of the same year. Their structured, methodical approach to song writing is immediately obvious, from the opening track, “Demain” on their debut to the “M87” demo song released in 2019, they weave patterns and tones into a series of dynamic musical passages that take you from the intricate to the raucous.

The duo demonstrate influences beyond post-music, with riffs and tones so clearly rooted in metal that they might as well wear a greasy denim jacket with “Anthrax” scrawled on the back. But this doesn’t define them. Those riffs work themselves around the melodies and bring grit to the gravy – a little bite to the apple. When the music falls away 2/3 of the way through “Libération”, it’s a metal-inspired tone that introduces the next passage, laying foundations for the tremolo-picked high notes to soar and wheel far above.

Listen to these two guys from central France and be one of those who can tell your friends in a year or two “I told you about those guys already a long time ago!”: