YOUR LAST WISH - Eradicate

9 songs
46:42 minutes
***** *****
(self-released)

Bandpage

Canadian melodic death metal band Your Last Wish has been around since 2003. I had not heard of them before, which might be due to the long intervals between their three albums. Their new record Eradicate comes full eight years and with a lot of line-up changes after its predecessor Desolation. Right now, no founding member is left. Senior member is guitarist and songwriter David Gagné, sibling of band founder Jean-François Gagné, and vocalist Roxana Bouchard who is also in charge of writing the lyrics.

One could label Your Last Wish a death metal band, but one had to admit that there are a lot of different influences to be found in their music. The fast opener and title track comes with hectic moments and offers fantastic guitar harmonies one usually finds in the thrash metal genre. Towards the end, the song becomes more extreme and might eve flirt with grindcore. There are also a lot of progressive elements, which can best be heard on the complex Monarque which sounds influenced by Voivod. Le Cri du Monde concludes the album in a spectacular way, coming with raw guitar riffs that nevertheless reminded me of Rush. Those who like it darker should check out Lost, which also surprises with an Oriental twist. On Pursuit we hear a clash between old school and modern death metal. Prestige even finds room for some black metal elements. Vocalist Roxana Bouchard has a really strong voice that reminds me of Arch Enemy. The lyrics alternate between English and French language, which is due to the band coming from Montreal in the French speaking province Quebec.

Eradicate is one of those extreme metal albums which allows you to discover new details every time you listen to it. The band decided to self-release the record in order to maintain all artistic liberties. Let’s hope that they will reach a large audience, because Your Last Wish is my personal discovery of the year so far.