The Black Map #151: Fraktions from London!

As In Flames put it, sometimes you have to reroute to remain and for Fraktions that’s exactly what they’ve had to do. Having started life as a quintet in 2015 they impressed with debut album “Anguish“, a concept release about a journey through Mental Health recorded and mixed by Daniel Reid (No Consequence) and mastered by Acle Kahney (4D Sounds, TesseracT). It features a guest vocal performance from Kaan Tasan of No Consequence who is now fronting DJentlemen Heart of a Coward on “Panic“, a role he reprised at Tech-Fest in 2017 when we first saw the band live, as they put in a blistering performance.

However things started to take a nose dive with the exit of Rhythm Guitarist Sebastian Dymiter shortly thereafter and then the second blow of Lead Guitarist Charlie Griffiths also quitting the band. So to the outside world it looked like they were done, finished, left floating face down in a swimming pool for the police to find them the following morning. But how wrong we were. Secretary squirrelling away in the background, Joel Pinder put down the microphone to focus on keyboards with the support of the rhythm section of William Kitchener (bass) and Ross Gordon (drums) and they re-invented themselves as an instrumental progressive trio who fuse elements of modern metal and jazz together, culminating in the release of a new EP in “Kalos” in January 2021…