Khôrada - Salt (2018) / 90%

Tasty like salt-cured pork

After the highly publicized dissolution of Agalloch, one of this generation’s most important band, we were promised two different projects by its members. Pillorian was formed by the “leader” John Haughm who received a lot of flack for the way Agalloch ended and the three other members (Don Anderson, Jason William Walton and Aesop Dekker) decided to join forced with Aaron John Gregory from California’s Giant Squid, recently put on hold

I’m not gonna do a review within a review but it’s hard to talk about this album without talking about Pillorian too. I was far from thrilled with the new project from Haughm and the way he pushed his fellow band members under the bus definitely left a sour taste in my mouth. Pillorian’s Obsidian Arc felt like an unfinished continuation of Agalloch’s black metal identity. While competent, it didn’t impress me and I thought originality was lacking. While the album was released, I had high hopes when Gregory was announced to be a part of the second band as Giant Squid’s Minoans was one of my favorite albums of 2014. My hope wasn’t misplaced as this a grand and epic album.

We’re served seven elaborated pieces of music all furnished with elaborate rhythms and time signatures while remaining fairly melodic and atmospheric. The influences of Sculptured (Don Anderson’ band who’s been quiet since 2008) and Giant Squid are fairly present but it’s its own thing. Their style is fairly hard to categorize (which frankly can often be an inane thing to do) as they mix a lot of different styles into one really solid amalgam. While heavy enough to be seen or considered as metal, there’s a smooth feel throughout the whole record. Dekker’s intense and uncompromising drumming casts light where darkness is present and the guitars of Anderson and Gregory have never felt so vibrantly intelligent. From quasi funeral doom to blackened elegance, songs like “Seasons of Salt” encompass their whole sound in a compact nine minutes. It’s fast, elegant and can bring back some of the late 90s avant garde/doom/gothic/progressive death black sound found in Northern Europe, something Agalloch was also quite fond of.

There’s a lot of subtle surprises on Salt. From the ode to family that is “Augustus” which feels like a mix between a lullaby and some folky gospel to the quasi synthwave overture of the closing song “Ossify”. Let’s not forget the beautiful opening of “Glacial Cold” with its cello. Despite those moments, the album is a constant masterpiece without any boring sections or unnecessary parts. Aaron John Gregory’s vocals are surely the highlights for me. From raw and deep to soft and charismatic, he did a great job at the helm of Khôrada. He reminds me of Alan Averill (Primordial) with the way he can make clean vocals an eerie affair and still maintains an aura of darkness with the combination of his lyrical prowess and vocal exercises.

Gregory also wrote all the lyrics which are painting a pretty grim portrayal of Earth’s natural equilibrium. “Water Rights” speaks of how profit is ruining our resources and “Wave State” talks about how we’ll be destroyed by a drought and possibly engulfed under water as the Earth is destroyed. Regardless of the lyrical matter, I feel that their music isn’t without hope and the album serves more as a conceptual lecture about what sort of catastrophes the future has in stock for us than an arrogant warning written by someone who joined Greenpeace last week.

Nature is convinced
it's time for a sixth
extinction event
before man has the chance
to gnaw her to the bone


While I loved the album, I’m sure Khôrada can actually do better and I have high hopes for their future. Salt is both bright and grim, it’s both balanced and inventive and never forgets to be profound while maintaining an accessible approach.

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Malebranche - Enlisé (2017) / 78%

In Movement

The young quartet from Montréal took their time to produce their first release and it was a judicious decision. They went straight to the EP format and did no demos. That’s fine nowadays where it’s entirely possible to get a great sound with ease. That’s something the boys of Malebranche got right on their debut.

In fact, they got a lot of things right. They got their style right, for sure. At first, I wasn’t quite convinced by their approach but it won me over after a while. Their blend of black metal genres is subtle and effective. They include elements of post black metal without never fully embracing it, same for Cascadian atmospheric black metal. Those two sub genres are toppings to the intense, fast paced black metal style of Malebranche. They’re a good representative of the actual Québec black metal scene as they’re removing themselves from the famous aesthetics. Like Basalte, Eos or Entheos, they’re the new wave of like-minded bands who aren’t afraid of exploring other genres.

Their compositions are dense and even though they’re not really lengthy, they’re epic in scope. The riffs are evocative and varied, the vocals obscure and powerful and the drumming strong and above average. Their sound is midway through traditional blistering black metal and the more subdued, prone to ambient side of the genre. A strong debut.

Bandcamp

Dérélection stellaire MMXVI @Saint-Jean de Matha - live review / compte-rendu

Photo by Manon Cornieux

This live review has been written in collaboration with my friend Ève-Laurence Hébert, I wrote the reviews for the first three bands, we both wrote one for thisquiet army and she wrote the review for the headliners, Basalte.

All the pictures were taken by Ève-Laurence except for those some taken by Manon Cornieux.

Useful links:
Apraxie
Besatzung
Entheos
thisquietarmy
Basalte

A French version follows the English one.


This new event created in part by Basalte, one of my favorite local bands happened in the countryside a bit less than 2 hours from Montréal and it was a blast. It was an intimate gig with about fifty fans and thirteen musicians divided within five musical projects. Beer, mosquitoes, great weather and of course, great music were all present to make this first edition a successful one. It was a relaxing event with only cool, interested and like-minded people and I’ve spent a nice time over there. Thanks to everyone involved and hopefully the festival will happen again next year.

Apraxie were the first to play at around five o’clock just before the communal dinner and considering it was only their second show ever, they were pretty damn cool. Composed of two members of Basalte (drummer and one of the guitarists), Pascal Rivard (vox, guitar) formely of Tribunal and Guillaume Pelletier (solid bassist), the quartet plays a mixture of post hardcore, screamo and post punk with some slight crust and black metal influences. They were pretty sloppy but in great way and it totally fits the juvenile aggressiveness of their sound. The four members were contributing harsh and visceral vocals reminiscent of the emoviolence movement and they were simply fun to watch. I’m excited to hear their debut studio releases scheduled for this year.











Sovannak Ké (Oppression, Putamen Insula...) played a set of Besatzung, his coldwave/ambient/synthpop/not sure how to classify this exactly project and it was pretty cool. Sovannak was alone on stage handling the occasional guitar, the wide array of pedals and effects and of course, the smoke machine. The atmosphere was cold, slow and pretty entrancing. It’s not really a genre I’m truly accustomed with but I liked it and I probably should explore the style. Songs like “Croque mon trottoir” are slow burners with a mesmerising drum machine approach and buried yet evocative vocals. Sad music for sad people.




Entheos released a really good album last year (review here) and while they played a bunch of gigs, it was my first time seeing them. The three members (they record as a quintet but now play live as a trio) were all wearing papier-mâché masks, plays some sort of dissonant yet atmospheric black metal with super tight musicianship. The new songs they played from their upcoming but still untitled new album are going in an even more audacious direction with some influences from Tool, from jazz and an overall sound that is less rooted in black metal. The musicians had a real chemistry and the interactions between the guitar and the bass were natural and impressive. You can definitely hear that those guys are listening to a lot of different styles of music in their sound, it’s rich in textures and the songwriting is intelligent and inspired.






Antoine's review of tqa:

Thisquietarmy was next and while it’s not exactly a genre of music I like, I can certainly say that for the style, it’s great. Eric Quach is alone with his guitar on stage but he’s surrounded by a lot of pedals to create an expansive and gloomy aural experience. Melting together drone, ambient, kraut rock, post rock, noise and at times even some black metal influences, thisquietarmy offered a set full of variety even if it’s an instrumental one man band. The loop effects, the drum machines and the guitar were all handled with talent and dedication but I must say that my favorite part of the performance was the collaborative improvisation at the end with three members of Basalte (guitar, drum and bass) and the guitarist of Entheos. It felt more complete, natural and interesting to me. I’m currently listening to the album Anthems For Catharsis and personally, I think I prefer listening to this while in my pyjamas at home.

Photo by Manon Cornieux 

Ève-Laurence's review of tqa:

Thisquietarmy is an imposing solo musical project formed by Eric Quach. With almost thirty solo albums (without the collobations he did with bands like Hypnodrone Emsemble, USA out of Vietnam or his own project thisquietarmy), Eric traveled the whole world to play immersive musical experiences for his fans. Based in Montréal, I never had the chance to see him despite that I really admire him. It took a special and intimate context for me to officially meet thisquietarmy

Photo by Manon Cornieux 

The artist started his set with “From Darkness Redux” taken from his latest album Anthems for Catharsis. The post rock sound from the number provided by the drum machine and the guitar gave its place to a track border-lining black metal with “Purgation/Purification” also from the same album. The intensity of thisquietarmy took shape with the different guitar effects made possible with the well executed loop and an hypnotizing array of drone sounds causing the audience to dream and enter a trance. The frenetic blast beat and the industrial drum machine on this track could almost make some black metal fans feel uncomfortable, prove the different influences of the project. The third track, “The Black Sea” from the album Rebirths, made us come back to a slower atmosphere without percussions and a melancholic finale. With the end of this track, a surprise happened when three members of Basalte and the guitarist of Entheos came on stage to join Eric Quach and played a fourteen minutes improvised track.

The track is available: here

The first moment of the improvisation was mixing drone and noise gave the time for the musicians to find the way to play together. Slowly but surely, the drums guided the song towards a more metallic direction, we were offered a doom section with slow percussion and a black metal outro with the vocals of E., one of the guitarists of Basalte giving us an appetizer of the last performance of the evening.

Basalte had the opportunity to perform several times since their inception and the release of their first album released in 2014 (review by Antoine here: here) but the last year gave us a bunch of new things like the addition of a bassist and new songs to be recorded for their second album that we’re really waiting for. The intensity of Basalte is undeniable and it’s even more apparent when the band performs as headliners. We think that this evening, an initiative of the band itself was perhaps their best performance yet. The atmosphere created by the impeccable drumming, the two guitars, the bass and the vocals mixing screamo and guttural voices are shaping a type of black metal that is distinguish itself from the classic style of black metal and really manage to captivate its audience. While we can call their genre atmospheric black, post-black metal or experimental black, the band is clearly unorthodox and are a good example of an evolving genre.






Basalte’s first song was the new song “Ce que le corps doit au sol”, a song that the fans only had the chance to see live twice. The first notes really made us realize that the bass was higher in the mix than before and that the musician really worked on his stage presence and managed to compose intersting bass lines. The soft and melodic introduction slowly let the black metal sound take its place like a crescendo. This was followed with “La sclérose coule dans ses veines”, another new song composed by Basalte. This number has a doomier and gloomier and it slowed down the set before “Acouphène”, the fastest song written by the band and its mix of d-beats, blast beats, their mix of harsh and screamed vocals and the breathless tremolos. The different mid paced sections were tied together to end with an exalted finale. To end the gig, Basalte played “Obtuse”, a song from their debut album that they never played since the arrival of their bassist (they used to perform as a trio). For the first time, the track was played with the additional bass guitar and it added a profound atmosphere confirming that this instrument adds a lot to the project. This 17 minutes track ended the performance on a great note. It was difficult not to feel the emotions transmitted by the four members all screaming together till the end of the song.

Photo by Manon Cornieux 

Photo by Manon Cornieux

For the adepts of the dark and experimental local scene, Dérélection stellaire was a memorable and unforgettable event. The location, the camaraderie between the musicians and the fans, the respect for the hosts and of course, the lineup made the event one that we will never forget. We can’t wait for the second edition.

Photo par Manon Cornieux

Critique en Français:

Ce nouvel évènement créé en partie par Basalte, un de nos groupes locaux préférés, a eu lieu en campagne, en forêt a environ deux heures de route de la métropole montréalaise. Le spectacle intime comprenant cinq projets musicaux fut réelement une belle expérience. La bière, les moustiques, la belle température et bien sur, de la bonne musique étaient tous présents pour faire de cette première édition de Dérélection stellaire un succès. Ce fut un moment relaxant avec des gens sympathiques intéressants et intéressés. Merci à l’organisation du festival et on espère qu’une deuxième édition aura lieu.

Apraxie fut le premier groupe a jouer et leur performance planifiée juste avant le souper collectif fut vraiment cool considérant que c’était seulement leur deuxième spectacle à vie. Composé de deux membres de Basalte (batterie et un des guitaristes), le beau Pascal Rivard (voix, guitare) anciennement des weirdos de Tribunal et Guillaume Pelletier (un bassiste très solide), le quatuor joue un mélange de post hardcore, de screamo, de post punk avec des touches subtiles de crust et de black metal. L’instrumentation peu soignée fonctionnait très bien avec leur son juvénile et agressif. Nous avons pu entendre les quatre jeunes hommes contribuer aux vocaux et ceux-ci pouvaient éloquemment rappeler le mouvement emoviolence. Leur premier enregistrement studio est prévu pour cette année et nous avons bien hâte.

Sovannak Ké (Opression, Putamen Insula...) a joué un set de Besatzung, son projet coldwave/ambient/synthpop/pas trop certain comment classifier cela exactement et c’était vraiment bien. Sovannak, seul sur la scène, jouait occasionallement de la guitare mais le focus était surtout sur son amalgame de pédals, machines à effets, drum machine et bien sur, la fameuse machine à fumée. L’atmosphère froide, lente et enchanteresse a su être convaincante. Ce n’est pas un genre que je connais vraiment mais j’ai vraiment aimé ce que j’ai entendu et je devrais explorer le style plus en profondeur. Une chanson comme “Croque mon trottoir” effraie par son identité flegmatique, son son hypnotique et ses vocaux enterrés mais evocateurs. De la musique triste pour des gens triste.

Entheos a sorti un excellent album l’an dernier (critique ici) et malgré qu’ils ont joué plusieurs spectacles, leur performance à la Déréliction stellaire fut ma première fois en leur compagnie. Les trois membres (ils enregistrent en tant que quintet mais joue live en tant que trio) tous masqués de masques faits de papier mâché joue une sorte de black metal atmosphérique et progressif avec une instrumentation du tonnerre. Les nouvelles chansons provenant de leur prochain album sont encore plus audacieuses et nous pouvons entendre les influences de Tool, de jazz et un son qui est définitivement moins basé sur le métal noir. Les musiciens ont une réelle chimie entre eux et les interactions entre la basse et la guitare furent impressionnantes. Nous pouvons vraiment réaliser que ces gars là écoutent un large éventail de styles musicaux différents, leur compositions sont riches en textures et c’est une musique intelligente et inspirée.

Critique d'Antoine:

Thisquietarmy fut le quatrième projet a se produire et malgré que ce n’est pas un style que j’affectionne particulièrement, je dois dire que le projet d’Eric Quach est super. Il est seul sur scène avec sa guitare mais il est entouré par de nombreuses pédales qui l’aident à créer un son sombre et vaste. Combinant drone, ambient, kraut rock, post rock, du noise et même pafois des influences black metal, le projet a offert un set varié et cohésif. Les effets loop, le drum machines et la guitare furent joués avec talent et dévouement mais je dois dire que mon moment préféré du spectacle demeure la fin du set, une chanson improvisée avec trois membres de Basalte (guitare, batterie et basse) et le guitariste d’Entheos. Selon moi ce moment était plus complet, naturel et intéressant. J’écoute présentement l’album Anthems for Catharsis et je crois que je préfère tqa dans le confort de mon foyer que live mais la performance fut fort agréable.

Critique d'Ève-Laurence:

thisquietarmy est un projet musical solo imposant mené par Eric Quach. Avec près d’une trentaine d’albums studio à son actif, sans compter nombre de collaborations (e.g. : Hypnodrone Ensemble et USA Out of Vietnam) et albums live, Eric s’est promené à travers le monde avec sa valise de pédales et sa guitare pour faire vivre à son public international des expériences musicales immersives. Basé à Montréal, je n’avais étonnement jamais eu l’occasion de voir jouer cet artiste que j’admire. C’est dans un contexte unique et intime que j’ai finalement pu faire officiellement la rencontre de thisquietarmy.

L’artiste a débuté sa prestation avec "From Darkness Redux", pièce tirée de son dernier album Anthems for Catharsis. La sonorité post-rock de la pièce, découlant du timbre du drum machine et de la guitare, a laissé place à une tonalité beaucoup plus proche du métal, voire du black métal, avec la deuxième chanson intitulée "Purgation/Purification", également tirée du dernier album. L’intensité de thisquietarmy prend forme dans les différentes strates de guitare rendues possibles grâce à des mises en boucle bien exécutées et un jeu hypnotisant d’effets drone provoquant transes et rêveries chez les spectateur-trices. Le blast beat frénétique et industriel du drum machine sur "Purgation/Purification", pouvant rendre certain-es adeptes du black métal mal à l’aise , témoigne d’une originalité dans les différentes inspirations qui animent thisquietarmy. La troisième pièce, "The Black Sea" de l’album Rebirths, a permis un retour à un style plus lent avec une longue introduction sans percussion et une accentuation vers une finale mélancolique. C’est à ce moment qu’une surprise réservée aux spectateur-trices privilégié-es de l’événement privé a débutée : une longue pièce improvisée de 14 minutes par Eric Quach, le batteur, un guitariste et le bassiste de Basalte, ainsi que le guitariste d’Entheos.

Le début de l’improvisation, croisant le drone et le noise, a laissé le temps aux musiciens de trouver une piste sur laquelle se lancer. Peu à peu, la batterie a pris le rôle de guide et a dirigé l’improvisation vers un genre plus métal, enchaînant une section doom aux percussions lentes et une dernière partie à la tonalité black métal accompagnée de la voix du guitariste de Basalte nous donnant un avant-goût du clou de la soirée : la prestation de Basalte.

La chanson est disponible pour écoute ici : Clique moi!

Basalte a eu l’occasion de performer à maintes reprises depuis ses débuts et son premier album paru en 2014 (critique ici). Toutefois, la dernière année a donné place à de nombreuses nouveautés : l’ajout d’un bassiste et la composition de nouvelles chansons pour un prochain album que l’on attend impatiemment. L’intensité de Basalte est indiscutable, d’autant plus lorsque le groupe joue en tant que tête d’affiche. Selon nous, cette soirée spéciale et fruit de l’initiative du groupe a été l’occasion pour Basalte d’offrir sa meilleure performance. L’atmosphère créée par le jeu de batterie impeccable, les deux guitares, la guitare basse et les vocales croisant le screamo et les voix gutturales façonnent un type de black métal qui s’éloigne des classiques du genre et qui ensorcèle son auditoire. Que l’on qualifie son style musical de black métal atmosphérique, de post-black métal ou de black métal expérimental, le groupe n’est clairement pas orthodoxe et dépasse les limites d’un genre qui évolue constamment.





Basalte a amorcé le spectacle avec "Ce que le corps doit au sol", une chanson que les fans ont eu l’occasion d’entendre seulement deux fois en spectacle et qui fera partie du prochain album. Les premières notes nous ont tout de suite fait sentir les vibrations de la guitare basse qui a été mise de l’avant plus que jamais auparavant et qui nous a permis de porter attention à la composition minutieusement travaillée par son compositeur et interprète dont l’expérience et l’assurance ont incontestablement évoluées. L’introduction douce et mélodique a lentement laissé place à la puissance du black métal dont l’ardeur s’accentuait à chaque minute.

C’est avec "La sclérose coule dans ses veines" que le groupe a poursuivi sa performance, autre nouvelle chanson composée par ses membres. Cette pièce à la sonorité plus doom et cafardeuse a ralenti le ton avant Acouphène, la chanson la plus rapide et agressive composée par le groupe qui nous hameçonne dès ses premières notes. Mêlant d-beat, blast beats, voix gutturales et criées, ainsi que trémolos essoufflants des guitares, les différentes sections plus ou moins rapides de la chanson se sont enchaînées naturellement jusqu’à l’atteinte d’une finale exaltante.

Pour terminer, Basalte a joué "Obtuse", une pièce de leur premier album que le groupe avait mise de côté depuis l’arrivée du nouveau bassiste. Pour la première fois, la chanson a été jouée avec une guitare basse créant une atmosphère tellement plus profonde que sur album et nous permettant de confirmer encore plus l’atout que représente pour ce projet musical la présence de la basse. Cette longue pièce de 17 minutes a terminé la prestation de Basalte sur une note estomaquante. Difficile de ne pas ressentir les émotions transmises par les quatre membres de Basalte criant à l’unisson à huit reprises la dernière ligne des paroles de la chanson.





Pour les adeptes de la scène musicale sombre et expérimentale, Déréliction stellaire fut un événement marquant, inoubliable. Le lieu, la bonne entente chez les spectateur-trices, le respect remarquable pour nos hôtes et, évidemment, la programmation ont fait de Déréliction un moment que tous et chacun souhaiteraient revivre. Vivement une deuxième édition!

Fuath - I (2016) / 86%

Andy trimmed the fuath
Andy Marshall definitely likes to form new projects, release one album with it and then form a new one (I'll ignore Falloch since they were truly mediocre and it wasn't a one-man band). It happened with Askival at first, and then Àrsaidh changed its name after the debut album called Roots. Finally, the newly entitled Saor released Aura in 2014. The thing is that those three projects shared very similar identities, they were all super entrenched in Scottish folk music and had all sorts of folkloric instruments like the tin whistle. I can understand changing the Àrsaidh name since like my fellow reviewer Caspian said, it sounds like arsehead but eh, it's still fun to watch him evolve through his music.

Fuath on the other hand leaves this behind to explore a simpler, streamlined and in the end mostly more rewarding style. While I liked Arsaidh a lot, it was still a somewhat cheesy and jam packed album and I think the writing is more mature and developed. Sure there's not a lot of variety but it's not needed and it's not the point of this style of music. It rarely works when yourself to include as much genres and influences as possible, restraint is a great quality in metal music and Andy used this concept to his advantage here.

This debut album has the same rich sound but Andy definitely simplified his approach, it's basically only atmospheric black metal inspired by the modern acts such as Vemod or early Wolves in the Throne Room (not as “cascadian”, whatever this means). The four tracks are sprawling numbers and they all contain a huge amount of riffs, it's atmospheric because of the natural aura the production has and the sense of grandeur the simplified yet totally epic feel the songwriting is. The guitars are subtle yet incisive and the vocals shadowy yet entrancing and emotional. There's still some remnants of the folky side but it's mostly in the background recalling the days of yore (such as in the second track “Blood” and it's done tastefully. The real difference maker in atmospheric black metal is the worthiness of the riffing combined with the airy ambiance and both are top notch here.

Nowadays, the musicianship and production values of one-man bands can often be exceptional (see The Ruins of Beverast or Midnight Odyssey) and Fuath is no exception. There's nothing unnecessary on this 41 minutes album, everything is produced like it should be, it's not too clean, not too raw and the instrumentation is super good. The people who thought Soar was too pompous (this includes myself) are gonna dig this record, it's less flamboyant but the black metal roots are much much evident and they're used to concoct this potent Scottish potion.

Fuath on Bandcamp

My review for Arsaidh written in 2013: ROOTS

Sortilegia, Gevurah & Havan, May 30th 2015 @La Vitrola, Montréal

On this stormy Saturday night, the black metal fans of Montréal had a dark rendez-vous at this cool venue located on Saint-Laurent boulevard. The gigs organized by Sepulchral productions are always interesting and worth seeing, this one was no exception. After a slight delay that gave me the time to hang out with my disciples of the underground metal world of Québec's metropolis, the show was ready to start.

Havan is an ambient project by Frédéric Arbour known for his involvement with funeral doomsters Longing for Dawn and also as the owner of the dark ambient label Cyclic Law. I'm nowhere near a fan nor a specialist of this genre so I was in an unknown territory for their set. It was a long introduction for Gevurah's set, the music was highly atmospheric but it didn't have a lot of variations and details. It was basically a long, creepy, soundscape quite fitting for a horror movie or a video-game. It was pretty good but a tad boring. I believe the piece was written or executed for this precise evening.

Havan on Facebook

Gevurah stepped on stage and they began their set while Havan's ambient overlong introduction was still underway. It was the Montréal duo's first gig since the release of their excellent EP “Necheshirion” (Profound Lore) almost exactly two years ago (read my review: here). The creative core of the duo got the help from two live musicians. Étienne Lepage (Venificium, Longing for Dawn, Sui Caedere) plays the bass and the current drummer of Verglas (black/punk) is the percussive force. X.T. (bloodied yet unbound) who usually handles the drums decided to concentrate on the vocals and A.L. handles the incisive and aggressively melodic guitars. Their black metal sound is right between the more dissonant approach of Deathspell Omega and the more riffy, in your face sound of Scandinavian (especially Swedish) black art. They were pretty good considering it was their debut live performance, the vocals could had been louder and the bass a bit more present but their mix was quite decent. They're currently working on their debut full length album and while they played no new material (4 songs from the EP, 2 from the demo from what I've been told), it's safe to say it will be a tremendous record. Their tracks can be intricate, long and they're not exactly to include some doomier or atmospheric influences. Illuminated by fiery candlelight, the troop offered a strong performance.

Gevurah on the Metal Archives

Picture taken by Annick Giroux

This was Sortilegia's first gig in Montréal since their solid set at Messe des Morts II (2012) when they played with their fellow Toronto friends Thantifaxath and were supposed to open for Darkspace (a like minded band) who were finally replaced by Archgoat. It was a very cool gig and I was excited to see them for a second time. The duo's full length release “Arcane Death Ritual” (available on all formats, I personally got the tape) released in late 2014 was well represented through the lush atmospheric but raw black metal delivered throughout their presentation. The guitar plus drums lineup is more than adequate even though it can appear to be minimalist or simplistic. Also, in Sylvus (now apparently dead? Lame!) , Anastasia is a damn fine guitarist who's able to captivate and hypnotize with a wide array of notes. The raw yet well composed songs can surely explain the deal the Ontarian band got signed to a label such as Vàn Records (one of the best in Europe).

The occult and bloody theatrics also plays an important role in their performances. Cloaked in dark purple robes and the face soaked in blood, Koldovstvo (her pseudonym) delivers profoundly noir metal with an incense smell. Sortilegia are masters of ritualistic death music.

Sortilegia on Facebook

Sortilegia on the Metal Archives

To put it briefly, it was a great darkened evening with two of the best black metal bands Canada has to offer right now.

Sortilegia's picture courtesy of Matthew K. B

Basalte – Vestige (2014) / 85%

Black rock? Nope, atmospheric black metallic alloy!

Basalte is a young three piece (2 guitarists and a drummer) from Montréal and like many newcomers (see Entheos or Gevurah) to the scene, they explore a different black metal perspective than we're used to. The “Métal noir québécois” is/was usually all about grimness, how winter is so fucking harsh and long, nationalism (both observed from a left or right wing point of view) and forests/nature. These subjects while fun and all can be identified as conservative and, ultimately a tad boring (see Chasse Galerie). It's always a plus when your scene can diversify itself and release some original and enjoyable black metal. That's the case with Vestige.

The voluntarily lack of bass in their music is pretty interesting and pretty much a non-issue as the two guitarists make up for it with their intertwined interactions and the very feelsy approach they have. One of the guitarists is a music student and, from an uninformed and non musician opinion, I think it's apparent in Basalte's music since they have the “less is more” ideological stance. It's intricate without being spastic, overly complex material that's dissonant for the sake of trendy opportunism. Their songs are lengthy (almost 40 minutes with only 3 tracks) and there's certainly a lot of atmospheric work going on but instead of relying on Cascadian influences, it's more on a sort of post black metal sound rooted on urban decay (see Altar of Plagues, an obvious influence both musically and thematically). This aspect of their music is showcased with the eerie concrete ruins picture (taken by a band member) used to illustrate the album. The shattered pillars are a good metaphor for the sound of this album, it may seem all over the place and with certain weaknesses but it still stands and let the light through.

Willing to include nods to a lot of different genres, mostly non metal ones like post-hardcore, shoegaze, jazz (mostly in the drumming) or post rock, Basalte still a pretty restrained manner and relies on subtle and methodical songwriting methods that are a given if you want to write compelling long compositions like they did.

There's not a lot of vocals here but the dark philosophical lyrics are delivered in an array of interesting types including dissonant black/death (think Mitochondiron) and a type of metallic post hardcore shouting that could be higher in the mix in my opinion. The three members are also taking turns handling the microphone duty but it's nowhere near problematic, quite the opposite really. The sound seems to be uniform at first but this is probably due to the cohesive and well written quality of their music since there's a certain variety found throughout the plethora of interesting riffs.

While the production could be tighter, its relative rawness is enjoyable and airy and fits their genre well. For a self produced debut, it's quite well done, the guitars are incisive, the drums while a bit distant are urgent. Also, as mentioned, the lack of bass is irrelevant since they're not relying on blistering heaviness but more on distinguished emotions and evocative abnormal yet sometimes familiar black metal melodic guitar riffs. Finally, it has some depressive black metal vibes from time to time to complete the thorough mix of genres.

Vestige is a strong effort for this promising young trio and I'm certainly expecting great things from them in the near future.
It's original atmospheric black metal with interesting twists and vivid interpretations. So put on a good pair of headphones and explore the Montréal decayed urban remains with them.

Montréal music fans should come see them live as they'll play a lot this summer. Toronto metal fans should also go see them in June at the Briefcasefest alongside bands like Sortilegia, Akitsa or IRN. Furthermore, the full length is available for free/pay what you can on Bandcamp and also as a tape, released by Productions Haineuses.

Basalte on Bandcamp/Where to order the tape
Basalte on Facebook

Entheos - Ototeman (2015) / 84%

Rouyn-Noranda's cold escapism

Québécois black metal is slowly starting to become one of the best scenes in the world. All bias aside, all the bands used to be similar, they were all about the cold winters, traditionalism or patriotism and these subjects while interesting were becoming mundane and unoriginal. Entheos is one of those bands that are succeeding in breaking the boundaries and expanding their genre towards more philosophical and intellectual tendencies.

From one of the metal kingdoms of Québec, the northern industrial city of Rouyn-Noranda (to give you an idea, Entheos opened for Ulcerate when they played there, it's a small city with a big metal fanbase), Entheos are unsurprisingly playing a very cold sort of black metal but they have more in common with the ethereal sound of Sombres Forêts than the likes of Forteresse or Neige Éternelle. That's probably helped by Annatos' involvement, the main man behind the seminal project has produced, recorded the album and he, added some guitar, bass and vocals too. Still, Entheos are not as adventurous as SF, texturally they're not flashy and don't use unorthodox instruments.

Combining many types of black metal like post black (think early Altar of Plagues) and atmospheric black metal. The compositions are intricate but always subtle, there's no grandiloquent nature leanings like in Wolves in the Throne Room and the likes. It's also thoroughly well produced with a clean production showcasing the skills of the musicians (their drummer Jessy Normand is also in the excellent death metal band Pallor Mortis) but they never overdo it. They include some charming acoustic guitar sensibilities like the beginning of my favorite track, the almost 10 minutes “Rêve de grandeur”. While maintaining an atmospheric aura, the band is always conscious about being rifftastic, they're very dynamic and even in the more quiet moments, they come up with interesting guitar licks and moments. It's also important to note that there's many more dissonant moments inspired by Deathspell Omega and the likes, a good example would be the heaviest parts of the final track “Parasite asservi”.

Their lyrics are all in French, it's efficient misanthropic & philosophical poetry, it fits their compositions and it was an enjoyable read. The subjects, themes and art approach combined with their sound are giving Entheos the ability to stand out and we're becoming to see more and more variety with bands like Eos (signed on the great Fallen Empire label) and that's a sign proving the health of the Québec black metal scene.

Here's some parts translated by yours truly: 

“The horizon is wide here
Like the centuries of winter
The men only walk to keep walking
and this earth is filled with our wanderings”

“The windows regurgitate the last soldiers of an infinite army
These dividing walls offering no other issue than these deformed holes in constant ascent”


I'm still ashamed I've missed their Montréal album release gig with the excellent like-minded newcomers Basalte, but I'll be there next time! Entheos are an interesting atmospheric, vibrant and mildly experimental black metal band with an already solid identity.

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Free album on Bandcamp

Giant Squid - Minoans (2014) / 90%

“We will be forgotten, we will be lost”... 

Well, hopefully they won't be...

Giant Squid were always an odd beast (excuse the expression) in the metal ocean, it took them five years to release a follow up to the excellent The Ichthyologist but now Minoans has hits the waves and so far the response has been widely positive. Their blend of cello induced post/doom/atmospheric/whatever metal is definitely not for everyone but it's definitely for me.

This concept album is about (I hope you got it) the Minoan civilization. I was already hooked on the album before listening to it since history is one of my passions (I'm writing this review instead of finishing some papers, it's currently my last year of studies before becoming a history teacher, woo) and the superb cover art helped the whole thing. The Minoan civilization is an interesting subject for a concept album since it's one of the earliest ones to emerge in Europe and there's still many theories explaining its downfall. The most popular being the eruption of a nearby volcano which could had led to economic repercussions for the naval power located on the island of Crete and a sudden weakness against the continental menace of the Mycenaean civilization.

I feel the historical context is a little bit important to the understanding of the album since the contextual approach is more than lyrical, it's transposed with the rich musicality of this record. You can definitely hear the Greek influences created by both the instrumentation but also the choice of riffs, it's way more Greek than anything Septic Flesh did in the last fifteen years, let me you tell that. The band always had a sort of classical feel due to Jackie Perez Gratz's cello (well known for her contributions for Agalloch, Neurosis and many others) but I feel it's pushed to its apex here, it feels natural and it's simply another instrument being as important as the huge bass presence, the ethereal keys and the subtle but profoundly heavy guitars. Their songs are slow catchy dirges but they never really drag, only the opening title track is over six minutes. It's brooding and has the sense of urgency that can be related to the dramatic end of an era or a culture (listen to the ending of “Six Foot Waves”.) The cello really shines most of the time but the other musicians are all more than solid and they help Giant Squid's identity development. Indeed, the band doesn't sound like any others, they mix genres effortlessly into a very progressive formula that transcends labels.

I always liked ballads, I feel a band can prove its worth by dropping the tough act to compose something truly beautiful (see my favorite band Opeth with “To Bid You Farewell” or “Credence”), that's something they did with “The Pearl and the Parthenon”, sang by both Perez Gratz and Aaron John Gregory (vocals, guitars, artwork), it's harmonious and doesn't feel detached from the rest of the release like it's often the case with this kind of experimentation. The clean vocals they use are neither powerful nor excellent but they possess this sort of entrancing ability and they're very charismatic. Gregory is the lead singer but he's, most of the time, attended by the cellist who do all kind of back vocals. This adds a lot of depth to an already immensely rich and well produced album.

With its 43 minutes length, the album feels short (especially that it ends quite abruptly), its predecessor was 20 minutes longer and I feel the band could really shine by expanding their slow, desperate side. Their music remains weirdly catchy, smooth and heavy and it never reaches cheesy territory even though it would be easy to with a geeky concept like this one (see David Defeis' Virgin Steele.)

Impossible to classify, Minoans is without a doubt one of the best albums of 2014, ride the waves till you reach the shores of Crete or San Francisco, maybe the link between the band and its concept is the Mediterranean climate?

Serve with Feta cheese, olives and lots of wine.

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Aureole - Alunar (2014) / 81%

The meanders of cosmic spiritual fortifications

The first release of this new project created by Markov Soroka (Eternium, Slow) is finally out after two or three years of arduous work and nobody could say that it's not well elaborated. The first demo songs that I was lucky to hear (unreleased) of the project sounded like Sargeist, a very melodic but still raw sort of black metal but the identity of the project changed during its gestation. As a young man, Soroka is kind of guilty of wearing his influences on his sleeves, for Eternium it was Dissection and Emperor, for Slow it was Esoteric, what is it this time around? Well, it's Darkspace and Alrakis! Nonetheless, he's a talented fellow and this excellent album proves it and it still brings his fair share of originality compared to his aforementioned projects.

One of the first things I've noticed is the fact that even though it's clearly an ambient black metal release, Aureole's music delivers the riffs and has an interestingly fast paced tempo. It doesn't mess around with its relatively brief duration for an album of its genre. It has sharp guitars often playing arpeggio riffs (see the exuberantly named “Crusade of NGC 5128”) surrounded by a huge platter of keys and unlike the ubershitty “symphonic” golem of Wintersun, it never sounds cheap, rushed or cheesy, fuck off Jari, go play with your toys. There's a lot of non metal influences, some coldwave, some synthpop, I mean, I can definitely hear the mythic Tangerine Dream in there too. The five somber compositions are thoroughly helped by the more than competent production done solely by Soroka himself. DIY or perish! It's crafted with care and it sounds majestic and natural. The songs are lengthy as you would expect from an ambient black metal project but they never really drag your corpse into oblivion, it's a smooth ride into the meanders of space and beyond.

The instrumentation remains minimal but the keys (no midi, guys!) are impressive and they're well mixed to the simple but catchy drums and the repetitive guitars. It feels old, like if late 70s electronica suddenly decided to become heavier. The combination of the different elements has been efficient

Like on Eternium's debut, there's still a concept story underneath it all, it involves space, castles, powerful beings and similar subjects but it's told by the immersing music instead of a lyrical identity where everything needs to be said. To illustrate that point, the 10 minutes instrumental outro “Alunar, Decrepit...” feels like you're in an empty castle dangerously inclined on a cliff surrounded by goodhearted spirits or somewhere in space where you don't quite belong. Furthermore, it's sort of mixing a medieval feel with sci fiction and fantasy realms but weirdly, it belongs together.

Markov's vocals (usually not his strong suit) are buried deep down the mix when they're actually present at all. This works with both the theme and the songwriting found on the album. You're not supposed to be heard in space, it would waste the dark fun of the whole thing. Not exactly raw, Aureole will please most people looking primarily for atmosphere in their black metal, it's rich & subtle music that will lead you astray for a moment while you reflect about your past deeds.

And goddamn, this cover art is superb, press that on vinyl already!

Aureole on Facebook

Listen and/or download the album for free on the excellent label Fallen Empire

If you're hungry while travelling through space, here's the edible version Oreole!

Owl – You Are the Moon, I Am the Night (2013) | 83%

“No regret! No retrospection!”

Christian Kolf is one of the most interesting musicians in the modern German metal scene. Fronting the weird doom/death band Valborg which is constantly releasing strong albums since their inception in the early 2000s and the excellent psychedelic sludge/whatever band Woburn House, he's a busy man. Owl is another project of his and it's still top notch metal, they're at their second full length stage and I feel they improved compared to their 2011 debut. Before continuing, I'd like to warn you that if you don't like long ass songs, just go back to your safe ten songs for forty minutes death metal album and be comfortable in your conservatism.

The approach found on “You Are the Moon, I Am the Night” is rather unique, it evolved from their self titled album into something more refined. It's exploring the realms of death metal but at the same time, incorporating enjoyable, exterior influences. Their basis remains death metal and it sounds like if Morbid Angel found a bigger brain or Nile got kicked out of their Egyptian McDonald. It has a very grandiose concept and an epic sort of riffing with a great guitar tone

The vocals of Kolf are deep and cavernous, akin to Steve Tucker era Morbid Angel, they definitely get the job done even though Kolf is first and foremost a composer, you can hear the similarity found in his other bands but transferred into a death metal setting compared to the mixes of . These rough vocals can be catchy and they sometimes rely on repetitions of lines to prove their point like “I will destroy you!” on the title track. Quite visceral! Outside of the harsh vocals, there's some profound but not cheesy cleans. Furthermore, the title track features a strange semi harsh, sludgey and almost spoken word French, it seemed to be poetry and it felt familiar but it appears to be original lyrics, they're quite good too. A romantic metaphor about the sun and the moon, very adapted to their profound music.

The album starts with two monster tracks, the eighteen minutes title track and the fourteen minutes “Clouds of the Mourning Spring”. Both very intricate and atmospheric songs full of nuances. The release ends with an ambient track just like it did on their previous album but fortunately this time, it's fortunately only fourteen minutes rather than half an hour, thank Satan for that. I like ambient but this was simply too much for me, after ten minutes, we got the message.  Nevertheless, there's still a tendency of being simply too atmospheric. I can't help to think that the last ambient track is unnecessary, Kolf has an ambient band called Gruenewald, I reckon he could keep these influences for this project instead. Still, the ambient influence is incorporated into their sound on the three metal tracks, it's certainly a part of their identity. Structurally speaking, it's not the most cohesive album, there's even a one minute interlude that would had been integrated easily in one of the other tracks. It's a bit too loose and could benefit from a tighter direction.

They can be compared to state brothers The Ruins of Beverast in a sense that they're dissecting their genres while adding instrumental, hypnotizing and emotional parts. They're both using various elements to develop their approach and in the case of mister Kolf, he's not scared of diving into atmospheric sludge/post metal to get what he's looking for. That's reflected by the cultoflunesque production and the coldness of the riffs. There's no place for long leads that are giving their sometimes overpaid place to clean guitar parts that are creating interesting background soundscapes. This mix of hard hitting slow and doomy death with sludge influences is really damn enjoyable and the songs don't feel like they're twenty minutes long.

Owl is for adventurous listeners who have a desire for for a subtle, progressive and atmospheric death metal recipe. It's still keeping the sense of dread the genre is known for but it's making it airy and dreamy. Like an owl, it's living in the dark shades of the night, waiting for a naive prey to appear. Bringing it to its nest to be devoured, lifeless.

It's recommended even though they could remove the fat from their sound but then the project wouldn't be that justified since Valborg already explores a tighter doom/death sound albeit with a twisted behaviour. It's an uncompromising album proving once again that death metal can think outside of the box and be particularly inventive. Owl is fighting the old school death metal scene while also being free from the constraints of a modern and technical sound which is overcompensating with solos and noodling. Comparable to Portal, the Germans are relying on building frameworks made out of unorthodox structures and influences. Owl, on the other hand, creates something with a sense of familiarity, it's not as discordant and unapproachable.

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The CD is sold out but you can get the digital album here