Ten years ago, Hugo and Victor's paths crossed in a sound engineering school, sparking a friendship deeply rooted in their shared love for metal music, with Meshuggah topping their list of favorites. Their musical interests spanned a wide array of genres, including various subgenres like new wave, darkwave, cold-wave, and post-punk, as well as a general appreciation for rock music. Bands like DIIV, The Smiths, Human Tetris, Lebanon Hanover, The Sound, Mac Demarco, and Men I Trust featured prominently in their expansive taste.
Early in their friendship, Hugo and Victor started creating music together in a humble setting, using a deteriorating laptop in a small room, without any serious aspirations of forming a band. This collaboration yielded a diverse range of demos, covering genres from brutal death metal to post-punk, including hardcore punk and screamo.
One of their earliest notable demos was paradoxically "ITCHES," which, despite being created in 2018, was not released until five years later. Another early work, "Mithridates VI," also dates back to this period. In their band, Hugo took the lead with vocals, but both of them were versatile, playing various instruments.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought an unexpected twist to their journey. Confined together, they composed and recorded "Flat Moon" in a single afternoon. Hugo, taking an initiative, sent it to various small labels without much expectation. To their surprise, they received a positive response from Spirit Goth, a label they both admired and managed by the artist CASTLEBEAT. "Flat Moon," along with several other demos, culminated in their first EP "Pochette II," released on the net label BIRTHDIY, a subsidiary of Spirit Goth, in 2021.
This success motivated them to work tirelessly on a full-length album. Sifting through dozens of unfinished demos, they selected nine and refined them intensely. Their dedication paid off when Spirit Goth offered to release the album on their main label. Two years after their initial EP, Hugo and Victor's first album was released, marking a significant milestone in their musical odyssey.
https://cowardsyndrome.bandcamp.com/album/coward-syndrome
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3H8q0Ypy2o&list=OLAK5uy_kwKsK4NCrTZGW7-at4eL_-eQebU17cEII
