SYCOMORE’s Dégradé brings the previously introduced singles “Chat-Loup” and “Blague Salace” into a ten-track album shaped by a renewed line-up, French-language vocals and more concentrated songwriting. Released on November 6, 2026, the French sludge metal trio’s fifth album is available now on LP and digital in co-production with Araki Records.
The two singles presented different sides of the record. “Chat-Loup” explores fear, pursuit and suffocating pressure, connecting the instinct to escape with hostile gazes and the need to conceal one’s true self. “Blague Salace,” the second single, turns towards the life surrounding the music. Its video draws on footage gathered over an entire year of concerts, journeys, backstage moments and encounters.
Across Dégradé, sludge, dark post-hardcore and abrasive noise rock meet shorter song structures and heavier grooves. The announcement describes a more immediate approach that retains the band’s darkness, abrasion and physical weight: massive riffs, rough textures and damaged grooves remain central to these more direct compositions.
Etienne Sarthou, whose credits cited in the announcement include AqME and Deliverance, mixed the album. Brad Boatright, associated in the source with Code Orange, Torche and Mutoid Man, handled mastering. The album is available to stream, buy and download through Bandcamp.
Formed in Amiens in 2015, SYCOMORE released four previous albums through Source Atone, Argonauta Records and Uproar for Veneration. The announcement frames Dégradé as a concentration of the changes heard across those records, with the renewed line-up and tighter compositions carrying that history into the fifth album.
The trio have played more than one hundred shows, appearing alongside Amenra, Coilguns, Hangman’s Chair, Oxbow and Will Haven. For listeners approaching the band through this release, the announcement offers Crowbar, KYLESA, Mastodon, (the) Melvins and Torche as reference points.
