Synthwave Sunday: Gloom Influx, Annihilator Remix EP

I missed Gloom Influx’s Voyageur album release earlier this year. In fact, I’ve missed Gloom Influx entirely — I hadn’t heard of the Montreal-based dark synthwave artist (née Luc Leclerc) until he emailed me last week.

Boy, am I glad he did. While it’s odd that my introduction to Gloom Influx comes via a remix EP — three versions of the Voyageur track “Annihilator” along with the original — it’s fitting that “the heaviest track he’s ever done” is the first one I’m hearing. Volkor X, Gor Flsh and The Toilet, the latter two of whom are also new to me, bring their unique flavors to the album-closer.

The original is indeed REALLY fucking heavy. We’re talking GosT-levels of synthwave heavy with hard charging beats, ducked synths and giant buzzsaw bass. It’s also got overtly more metal elements added in, with riffy, distorted guitars, more natural sounding (but WAY more metal) drums, and just a general sense of band orchestration about it. It goes hard, the synths sound superb, the tones are tight… it’s a winning package. And the remixes all add an entirely different flavor; what a fun way to be introduced to Gloom Influx.

Annihilator is out now. Stream it below and purchase via Bandcamp.