Dissimulator – Artifice Dissolves
Release Date: 2nd October 2026
Label: 20 Buck Spin
Bandcamp
Genre: Technical Thrash, Death Metal.
FFO: Vektor, Voivod, Coroner, Cryptic Shift, Cynic.
Review By: Aeons Burning
We’ve truly been spoiled by good tech thrash this year, yet apart from Cryptic Shift I can confidently say the only other band I was looking forward to on the same level was Dissimulator. Their debut Lower Form Resistance from 2024 was such a wildly fun and insanely technical album, with in particular the drumming being one of the best performances I’ve ever heard. Throw in spidery, frantic, blazing-fast riffs and Cynic-coded vocoder, and you have something that’s pretty much infinitely replayable. With that being said, Dissimulator releasing something on that nigh-impossible level of quality or even surpassing it felt like a fool’s endeavor, but having listened to Artifice Dissolves so many times by now, I can confidently say that this is an even better record than Lower Form Resistance.
It’s Apophenic Rage that sets the tone, delivering the coolest drum intro of the year courtesy of Philippe Boucher before Claude Leduc’s furious riffs catapult this thing into the stratosphere. What makes Artifice Dissolves so fantastic is the seamless alternation between passages of light-speed-level fretwork and some nasty grooves that all make this feel like a dying machine that’s about to explode in a fiery inferno. The vocoder is also back, and feels even more Cynic-coded, with it appearing on Hungry Ghosts, Proprioceptor, and Neon Metropolis. I don’t know why more technical thrash metal bands abstain from using this tool, as it creates a perfectly robotic-sounding atmosphere and fits the sci-fi, futuristic vibe so many bands in this sphere go for. Artifice Dissolves also has the distinct pleasure of being one of the most technically proficient records I’ve listened to this year without ever delving into a noodly wankfest. This thing riffs, grooves, and somehow manages to be even MORE technically proficient than the debut, which is just a ridiculous feat in of itself. While solos aren’t omnipresent, when they are present, they are as lightning-fast as you would expect, and make the already great song even better. Even the interludes Dusk and Anodyne are essential.
I don’t have a favorite track on Artifice Dissolves. I love every single song on here, and while I knew this was going to be a good album, I had no idea it would be this good. Artifice Dissolves is a fantastic continuation from Lower Form Resistance and I can’t wait to see what Dissimulator has in store for us come album three. Oh, and of course, to cap everything off, the artwork on Artifice Dissolves is easily the best of the year. This is such an amazing record, and it’s an essential listen to anyone who even remotely likes tech thrash.
(4.5 / 5)
