No matter what scene you are in, you want to see bands that follow their hearts or intuition and take some risks. It is these kinds of bands that eventually stand out from the rest (good or bad) and also, more often than not age well - it is a sustainable model, proven time and time again.

Départe are one such example of this working to perfection. From Hobart, Tasmania, Départe had a few iterations after the disbandment of Hobart Tech Death band, Separatist. Sam Dishington was the frontman and main songwriter for Separatist and began discussing the idea for a new band that borrowed more from bands like Gorguts and Ulcerate than the usual Necrophagist or The Faceless types of Death Metal. It would be a style that leaned more into dissonance and polyrhythms than blast beats and growls. That idea evolved into a few demos but it did not grow into anything substantial (just yet).

Sam began writing some second wave Black Metal tunes in 2011, in the style of Behemoth, Marduk, and fellow Tassie band Ruins. Originally named Ørannis, Sam wrote a song called Citylights, which was the first song to bring in a more atmospheric vibe, although still very much Black Metal. Ørannis was launched with that track, and the band wrote a few others and ended up playing a few shows in corpse paint with Ruins, Thrall and Absu. Ørannis took a moment to breathe and recalibrate. Sam and co were inspired to create music that leant further away from Black Metal and more towards a dissonant Post Metal type sound. That was unusual for the Tasmanian scene, dominated at the time by Death Metal. It was a slight risk, but they followed what they were inspired to do, washed off the corpse paint and renamed the band Départe in 2012.

Départe, and their only release to date, Failure, Subside is an emotional and spiritual outpouring. For Sam at least, this is catharsis and it makes Départe stand out from the rest of the dissonant brigade that has become almost a new genre of Death Metal. The outpouring on Failure, Subside is very personal. What Départe do extremely well is counteract the emotion of the lyrical content off the music. The two match, they build together and release together in a special and unique way. The opposite of failure is success, but they didn’t name the album Failure, Success. Here, the feelings of failure and of hopelessness simply reside. You don’t feel happy once the album is complete, but you want to hit play again.

Départe did not fail. They signed to Season of Mist for the release of Failure, Subside. The signing was almost fate, certainly a right place/right time situation. On tour in 2014 with Ulcerate, a promoter in France was a fan of the band, and wanted a Season of Mist manager to hear the show, so he offered to push Départe’s time slot back. The manager did not end up seeing Départe, but a demo ended up in his hands later that night, and a few months later he reached out and signed them to the label.

Départe put a lot of care and effort into the writing and recording of Failure, Subside. They were not interested in doing things the same way that others do, so they used Half Moon Productions to mix the album. Half Moon Productions specialise in modern Metalcore/Deathcore. But, Départe did their homework, and wanted a thicker tone and thought they would be prefect to mix the album, and a thicker tone they received. The album sounds monstrous, and very weighty.

Départe keep good company and they toured strategically before and after the release of Failure, Subside, participating in the Direct Underground Fest, which included Marduk, Gorguts and MGLA. I was lucky enough to see the band around this time at the Brisbane Hotel in Hobart opening for Rosetta. The band name Départe is from a Rosetta song off The Galilean Satellites album.

Failure, Subside gained very positive reviews, hitting many best of year lists in 2016. A lot of those positive reviews compared them to Ulcerate. As humbling as that comparison must have been, it is a somewhat lazy comparison. Départe do site Ulcerate as an influence and inspiration, and certainly share dense, dissonant and discordant characteristics, but Départe lean into atmosphere and emotion and mood a lot more than Ulcerate do. At times the sound is more Post Rock than Metal. Départe are clearly introspective, using music and vocals at times to uplift the listener. The clean vocals that appear occasionally also set them apart from their dissonant peers. Départe sounds more like Rosetta and Cult of Luna than Ulcerate.

I value consistency in an album highly, whether that is structure, mood, tone or just quality. Failure, Subside has consistency in all those facets. There are ebbs and flows, and moods build, elevate and descend, but you can trust Départe early on, and that is rare on a debut album. Songs bleed and flow into each other, and it seems to have been crafted to be experienced as one outpouring with different textures. The clean vocals are timed perfectly, further evidencing that incredible care and thought has been put into the writing and recording process.

Départe with Failure, Subside buries you. Départe pause because they are patient musicians. They inhale and exhale, and they wait to see if you dig yourself free. Failure, Subside is a short sample size, but Départe are a special band and they are not done yet. Sam was not satisfied with some of the follow up material, and then life and Covid got in the way, and some of the guys are now in other projects. Départe is currently dormant, and a sophomore album is on pause, but the timing will be right one day, and the ashes will bloom again.

Départe are:

Sam Dishington (guitars, vocals)
Michael Rankine (drums)
Jarrod Sorbian (bass)
Mitch Golding (guitars)

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