NEGATE

Negate was formed back in 1996 by three Teenagers from Wallonia (Belgium). Their early sound was quite different from what they do nowadays. Negate´s first Release was a split 7inch back in 1997 since then they have released 3 CDs on different Labels. They went trough some line up changes, which brought them their own sound. Negate can be described as a mix of ultra brutal Deathmetal and Blackmetal with vocals that range from screaming to grunting to melodic singing. They managed to play some big Shows (the Dour Festival etc.) and did some Tours in Germany, Spain, France and even Belgium. Voice of Life Records took notice of them after their release of their second MCD (tragic circus) in 2001 and signed them for one full length, which came out in January 2002. That was the stepping-stone for Negate, they got bigger Shows with the likes of Caliban, Heaven Shall Burn, Length of Time, Crusader and more!

NEGATE saw the rays of rising sun under the form of a trio in December 1996. Its first demo tape is out in July 1997. At this time, you could consider Negate as a New-School band. They play more and more often in concerts and the band records a split CD with the French combo Negative Verdict in May 1998 on the Belgian label Next Sentence Recordings.After that, Negate acclaims the arrival of a fourth member. From that new partnership between the members, the first MCD, called "Between Anger and Pain", will be out on Next Sentence in November 1998. Their style is already more aggressive, some of their songs caress the dark Death-Metal borders, their music is more constructed, their lyrics more sensitive...

Good operation, as this MCD opens them new horizons : it's distributed on the worldwide HardCore scene, from Poland to Brazil, and interviews come from California and even from Singapore. Out at 1,000 copies, this MCD will be repressed soon. September 1999. A second line-up change is made, and public sees the birth of their new opus, the full- length CD "The Fifth Season", also on Next Sentence. From then, their style is more and more mixed with Death-Metal, Black-Metal... Two well-known artists appear on this CD : Jessica Johansson, from the Swedish band Convinced, and Ross, from the Belgian band Length of Time. A tour sees them in Spain in Bilbao, Asturias, Madrid, Valencia... and in the South of France in April 2000. In July 2000, the band enters in studio to record its third opus, the most achieved, the most violent at this day : the 5-songs MCD "Tragik Circus". Now they've found their marks with this mix of HardCore, Death-Metal, Black-Metal, with even a touch of GrindCore. A true flaming bullet in the head of the poor listeners! They all listen to different sorts of music, be them HardCore, Death-Metal, Rock, Pop,... This makes their music what it actually is, it's a pure state of mind.

The band always try to mix all their influences and avoid playing with too experimental sounds; they always try to keep their originality. Not always an easy task. They try to keep themselves on the extreme side of the music, be it Metal or even accoustic, with quiet melodies. All this they mix in a compact block to offer you the best they can. September 2000 sees the arrival of a new member, François, from AFA. From now on, the band counts two guitar players, to assure a new ambiance of unrivalled savagery. In the same time, Negate decides to cut all their relations with their former label, Next Sentence Recordings, because thir differences with the manager of the label,Saïd. The new MCD "Tragik Circus" will be out on Dark Sun Records in December.

Lineup

Arnaud Detry - Guitars (1996-?), Vocals (1996-2004)
Justin Veronesi - Bass (2000-2004) (ex-A.F.A. (Armanita Fly Agaric), ex-Little X Monkeys)
François-Xavier Marciat - Guitars (2000-2004) (ex-A.F.A. (Armanita Fly Agaric), ex-Little X Monkeys)

Release

Demo '97 ' Demo 1997      
Negate / Negative Verdict ' Split 1998      
Between Anger and Pain ' EP 1998      
The Fifth Season ' Full-length 2000    
Tragik Circus ' EP 2001      
The Dead Guy Palace ' Full-length 2002      
Enemy ' Full-length 2003      
Negate 1996/2004 ' Compilation 2004      
Revival ' Compilation 2009

Negate were yet another Belgian metalcore band that flirted with death metal. These guys were often compared with H8000 bands like Deformity and Liar. They weren't as good or as renowned as those bands though. Furthermore, Negate hailed from French-speaking Wallonia rather than the Flanders region, despite sonic similarities with H8000 bands. Their debut album, "The Fifth Season", was one of many metalcore records I bought back in the day. It never struck a chord with me, but the band had interesting ideas and deserved some credit for splicing various styles of music (into one incoherent mess of a record).

The band were closer aligned to death metal than most of their metalcore contemporaries. There are few, if any, ties to punk rock here. The production is crisp and there are various death metal tropes that were less common in metalcore at the time, like blast-beats and guitar solos. Most of the songs have thrashy riffs that remind me of Slayer and Kreator (probably inspired by Congress and Liar too). The opener (i.e., the title track) is a simple example of Negate moving from thrash metal speed into a slow chugging beatdown, and back again. All these riffs sound good individually, but the song itself doesn't feel cohesive, and never develops into anything special. That is the story of the whole album.

Other songs cover many different bases. There are ultra-low death metal vocals mixed with screaming. There are clean vocals, both male and female (the latter courtesy of Jessica Johansson from Convinced). There are nods to Life of Agony grunginess (e.g., "The Bars of the Hidden Truth"), to black metal (e.g., " Leiah the Princess of Darkness"), and there is even an acoustic song ("No One Listen"). The band tried to merge several styles together on "Over the Bridge", but it sounds like some kind of metallic power-ballad. The phrase 'jack of all trades, master of none' is apt. This album stands in contrast to the masterclass of lean death metal that Deformity delivered a year earlier ("Murder Within Sin").

Negate absorbed too many ideas at once, without thinking about how to blend them. Most of these songs seem more like meandering experiments than songs. "Desperate Fall" is a possible exception; the best and most atmospheric track on the album (and the only one I recommend). This record lacks the motion, fluidity and catchiness of good hardcore and metalcore. It also lacks a bit of rage. "The Fifth Season" comes across as a jerky and awkward record. Negate had plenty of potential and could have taken one of several different directions after this record. Unfortunately, this record confused me so much that I never listened to any of their subsequent material.