Cantique Lépreux – Cendres célestes (2016) / 81%

Trilogie noire québécoise

Tome III: Paysage d'hiver

Thanks to Eisenwald for the promo copy

I’ve never really liked Chasse-Galerie, they’re not a bad band at all but I think they’re too boring and play it safe, I wasn’t quite convinced by their live presence either. Considering this, I was a bit skeptic when I got this album in my inbox but I was surprised by how much I liked this new project of three of their members (also members of Forteresse or Au-delà des ruines). While it’s not a perfect debut album, there’s enough quality here to please most black metal fans. They’re not yet in the Québec black metal elite but they could very well be soon enough.

Soundwise, this album is the shiiit, the production is just icy and clean enough to make the songwriting shine and just raw enough to give it the necessary atmosphere. To be fair, I was expecting something akin to Paysage d’hiver when I saw the cover. The vocals of Blanc Feu are perfect for the genre, crispy yet tenebrous and just buried enough to give them the rightful snowy cavern feeling. The guitars are also very well produced and aren’t exactly that typical for the genre, there’s even some surprising, insane soloing (such as in “Transis). Considering they took the time to start a new band, I do think they didn’t do enough stuff to truly distinguish themselves from the masses. I was expecting something more epic and grandiose (not that it isn’t) but I do dig the (somewhat) melodic and (somewhat) peculiar approach they took with Cendres célestes (Celestial Ashes). They didn’t use all into the usual tropes of QCBM and that’s something that we see more and more in the Québec’s scene nowadays. Many bands are leaving their old tricks (winter, nationalism) behind and they’re taking a different, often more occult, direction. Gevurah or Délétère are good examples of this new trend.

I think this project has a lot of potential and that’s something that the excellent German label Eisenwald also saw (Csejthe and Grimoire, two of the best Québec bands ever are/were signed there). Even if I think that the compositions lacked a certain abtract component that I can’t really pinpoint, it’s solid material and it’s highly recommmended.

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Neige et Noirceur – Les ténèbres modernes (2016) / 88%

Trilogie noire québécoise

Tome II: 1914-1918

Thanks to Sepulchral Productions for the promo copy

Neige et Noirceur has been one of the most interesting bands in the Québec black metal underground since its inception in 2005 and the solo project has seen its fair share of evolution throughout the years. After a decade or so, gone are the extra long ambient explorations the project was known for (such as the excellent "La seigneurie des loups"), this album is a compact experience and it works very well. Their previous album, the occult "Gouffre onirique et abîmes cosmiques" was already showcasing signs of streamlined compositions and, in my opinion, the 2014 release could be seen as a transitional effort, albeit a strong one.

Even though the lyrical theme and concept of Les ténèbres modernes (The Modern Darkness) aren't quite on the original side as far as historical approaches are concerned, the band really managed to craft an interesting, captivating and in-depth observation of World War I and its numerous complexities. The intent was to write a highly mechanical album in relation to the chaotic aspects of the Great War, which was one of the first truly modern conflicts of importance.

Tracks like “Walpurgis 1917” are recalling the tank-like energy of Marduk at their fastest but even if the traditional black metal identity has a larger place on this album than on their previous ones, they’re still not a “normal” band for their genre. During the forty minutes trip back to 1914-1918, we’ve served numerous ambient, experimental moments with a wide array of tactics such as alarms, industrial bits (the song “Felgrau”), voices in German or French (the spectacular outro “Adieux” with its insane violin samples). I can definitely see a similarity with the French band N.K.V.D. as they also mixed war history with black metal and industrial touches. The second half of the album really goes into an insane, demented direction and I think that’s a good analogy for the first World War. People were saying that the war would be short (three or four months) but it lasted a thunderous and violent four years, the life in trenches made the soldiers mad and the mustard gas were suffocating them and the insanity of Neige et Noirceur’s conceptual music only grew in intensity till you’ve reached the end of their essay.

The vocals of guest vocalist Chimère Noire (artist for Portal, Phobocosm, Abyssal...) are deeper and more cavernous than those of sole composer known as Sion Daus on this album, I’d say that they’re one of the most accessible (accessible as far as black metal is concerned!) aspects of the music showcased here. The production is just raw enough, a clean one would had not been adequate for the songwriting and thematics, it needed to have some dirt.

While they were mostly writing about Québec’s heritage viewed with occultism and darkness (such as nationalist hymn “Croix de feu, croix de fer” back in 2010), I feel this new full length has this international vibe that could really help them gain more (well deserved) exposure. Even if the material could be viewed as more marketable and less epic, it’s no less ground breaking and worthwhile. Neige et Noirceur has written their most violent and interesting album to date.

Forteresse - Thèmes pour la Rébellion (2016) / 85%

Trilogie noire québécoise

Tome I: 1837-1838

Thanks to Sepulchral Productions for the promo copy

Forteresse, possibly the most famous Québec black metal band, celebrates its 10^th year anniversary this year and to celebrate they’re releasing their fifth album on the Québec national holiday, the Saint-Jean-Baptiste. June 24^th is certainly a fitting date to release this new opus written by this group of well known nationalists. The band has always stuck to their guns (or muskets) but the formula has changed now and I think it fits the chosen theme.

Their first compositions since the excellent split Légendes released with three of their metal noir brethren, the songs on Thèmes are much more aggressive than before. It’s perhaps their less subtle album to date and this applies both to the musical and the conceptual sides of the album. I think the tragic and violent aspects of the Patriots rebellions of 1837-1838 deserved an added dose of vitriol and that’s exactly what the guys did. The ambient and atmospheric moments have been toned down a lot and there’s a big emphasis on riff-based songs, the tracks hit harder than before and the production is much more clean and complete than it was before since it was produced at the well known Necromorbus Studio in Sweden. Now acting as a full band with four members, you can actually hear the difference in the way the songs are played and composed, it feels more complete and natural. The founding members Athros (vocals) and Moribond (guitars, bass) are once again joined by Fiel (sole member of the excellent Grimoire) and Matrak (Chasse-Galerie, Cantique Lépreux) who adds a second guitar to the mix. The musicianship is top-notch for this kind of métal.

While the guitars are crunchier and faster than before, Forteresse still manage to write compelling songs full of atmosphere but nevertheless, the ambient personality of the band has been replaced by this sort of epic black metal identity. The line between epic and atmospheric/ambient is sort of abstract and arbitrary. The solid mix and mastering definitely helped them to achieve their vision for this patriotic album.

A concept often linked to epicness is cheesiness and I do think Forteresse were always on the cheesier side of black metal with their olde tyme violin samples (such as the ones on Métal noir québécois. While there’s no violins or folk elements on Thèmes, there’s still some fermented milk to be found. Le sang des héros starts with a sample about the Rébellions from Épopée en Amérique, a great documentary that I’ve actually used to teach Québec history in my classes. I thought it was quite funny but it’s an anecdotal and personal experience, I guess!

There’s an overarching theme throughout the album and it’s related to the illustration in which we see Québec City in flames. The way I’m interpreting the cover art is that they used the 1760 conquest of New France by the British as a prelude to the rébellions of the 1830s. During the album, we’re served samples of fiery winds and the whole excellent ambient outro ending the sad and tragic tale recalling this sombre period of Québec’s history is strong winds intertwined with delicate keys, one of the sole soothing moments on this busy, intense record.

All in all, it’s difficult to say where I’d place this album in Forteresse’s discography, while I think Thèmes would benefit from more variety, it’s surely their tightest and most cohesive work to date

The band will release the album in Québec City with Cantique Lépreux (Tome III of this series) and Délétère in June. I'm possibly planning a roadtrip to go see that.
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