Local Sounds: Volume 4.0

Christmas is near even if there's snow decorating the streets of Montréal and I felt it was time to deliver the fourth volume of this Local Sounds series. It's a series of short reviews about the best and most interesting non-metal music of Québec and its surroundings, sometimes it's artists in French, sometimes they sing in English but it's always meaningful and deep music. Also, I always try to focus on up and coming bands offering their music for free or pay what you can online. This edition has 4 unique projects all living in the province of Québec.







Le Pélican Noir - Le silence tendu au dessus de nos têtes comme un orage en suspens (2013)

The debut EP by this francophone collective is some sort of highly atmospheric instrumental indie rock/post with slight electronic touches. There's a lot of piano, accoustic guitars, synths, violin and a bunch of other weird instruments. They have the rich, entranced feel of Sigur Ros, the song “La quadrature du cercle” really reminded me of the renowned icelandic band with its subtle keys arrangements. Highly recommended release, it's relaxing in a strange way.

I'm excited to hear their 2015 record that I'll get on Christmas due to the very cool initiative of Poulet Neige. The platform is basically a bunch of local artists giving their music, you pick the number you want and you'll receive the files on the 25th.

More info here : POULET NEIGE

Free download : Le Pélican Noir on Bandcamp




Les Passagers – Le ciel est noir (2014)
Speaking of Poulet Neige, it's because of this website that I've discovered this next band! This quintet led by Andréanne Muzzo (vocals, synths) et Nicolas Ferron (guitars, synths) plays a form of ethereal indie pop with soft and cute vocals by Andréanne. The lyrics in French are lovely, poetic and full of imagery (especially “Acheter ta peau” or “Buy your skin”) but the band is never kitsch or too much despite the 80s synths influence. This will make you feel good in less twenty minutes. It's sunny but not overly so and fits all the seasons we can experience in Montréal.

Free download: Les Passagers on Bandcamp

Barricade – Rapide Sept (2015)
From Rouyn-Noranda (7 hours north of Montréal), this instrumental trio is quite interesting. They're groovy, atmospheric somewhat metallic post hardcore with a lot of feel and a solid, airy production. The songs, almost all titled with names like Tony, Max or Cindy are all quite short and never waste any time getting their point across, they're not a meandering band like many of the post-whatever acts we can encounter nowadays. They remind me a bit of Karma the Burn but without the stoner metal elements, just blistering instrumental energy thrown at you for a short while.

Free download: Barricade on Bandcamp



Nüshu – EP 2014

Sharing two members with Politess (a band featured on Local Sounds volume 3), this unisex project is also fairly weird. The noisy punky alt rock band has shouted, piercing vocals, flowing post punk riffs and groovy drumming. The lyrics in French are absurd or amusingly vulgar (like the surprinsingly aggressive song about the color blue). Fast paced blurbs of controlled insanity is what you'll find here and it's pretty enjoyable! This 10 minutes or so EP is promising and Nüshu is currently working on something new based on their Facebook page

Free download: Nushu on Bandcamp



Stay tuned for volume 5.0 due in early 2016!

Iron Maiden – The Book of Souls (2015) / 77%

The Lack of Editing

It's sort of funny to hear the term “modern Maiden” as Brave New World was released fifteen years ago, that's older than many popular bands nowadays! I guess that's a testimonial to the brits' long and thunderous career? Anyhow, the fifth album since the return of Bruce “badass” Dickinson, The Book of Souls is certainly an adventurous album but there's some issues plaguing the ninety plus minute trip to really achieve the double album nirvana, it's still a pretty good album though.

The usual argument against double albums is that fact that most of them would be much better as a single disc and this is true for this record too. If they had to learn anything from Judas Priest, it was obviously to never do a double album. Too bad. The four previous Maiden (and also The X Factor) could had seen their lengths considerably reduced and I was hoping that after The Final Frontier, Harris and the boys would finally write a more concise release. Nope, it's their longest and most tedious one ever. The length is not necessarily the issue here, the problem with many of these songs is that they're just way too long for their own sake like “The Red and the Black” and its thirteen minutes. It's like good meat but with way too much fat that your butcher forgot to remove. With a career spawning many decades, they decided to do whatever the fuck they wanted and I must salute this even if it didn't work.

Nevertheless, it's still Maiden being Maiden, there's many brilliant moments here such as the psychedelic almost western spaghetti intro of “If Eternity Should Fail”, one of the best songs on the album and the first out of two to be written solely by Dickinson. The other being their longest song ever, the eighteen minutes epic closer “Empire of the Clouds”. The use of piano on this track is interesting and it's some sort of subtle historical opera, it's not the disaster I was expecting, really. It's one of the only track that actually feels shorter than it truly is and I liked how it's built. Outside of the long tracks, the shorter ones doesn't always work quite well (“Speed of Light” is underwhelming) and some of these were also disposable. “The Man of Sorrows” or “The Great Unknown” are pretty damn great, the whole thing could had been tighter, it's all.There's no superb fast paced tracks like "The Mercenary" here and it's a shame.

It's a varied and dark album but the classic Maiden leads are always there to lift your spirit. The instrumentation is once again top notch and I appreciate that the bass isn't in your face as much as on some other of the albums. Since Steve Harris is less involved than usual due to some personal issues, it's a more democratic effort and it's a cool thing. We have the acoustic leanings of Janick Gers (a totally underrated guitarist) on the title track, the proggy AOR approach of Adrian Smith on “Speed of Light” or the long-winded epic formula of Harris. It's a vast album and has everything to please everyone but it's hard to digest as a whole in one sitting, it's like stuffing your face with fifteen hot dogs.

I like Bruce's rough and mature voice, I think he aged well and isn't straining too much. The lyrics are also great (most of the time), they're not too cheesy and deals with death in a meaningful way. Maiden at this point is an experienced band and I can't quite say that they sound tired, they're not exactly rehashing ideas even though most of the album is nothing new. It's hard to find a band this old who's still able to be as invigorated except maybe for Rush.

As a fifty minutes album, this would had been spectacular but ninety-two minutes is just overwhelming. I tend to listen to my favorite parts and ignore skip some of the weaker moments, that's something I hate to do since I love listening to albums as a whole. Can't we just get a short album for once, guys? A new Maiden album remains a big event but I can't say that I was completely satisfied with this one. Nonetheless, when it's good, it's freaking good.

 

Deafheaven – New Bermuda (2015) / 82%

South of Deafheaven

The San Francisco quintet became some sort of pariah with Sunbather (2013), an immense album clad in pink and done by dudes with short hair who aren't your typical metalheads, big deal, right? This record was praised by indie rock magasines and divided the sometimes unfair metal kingdom. I'll admit I had my reservations at first but the quality of their music convinced me of their relevance, I think they became trendy to hate for the trve black metal crowd who prefer the old (and tired) tactics. With that said, Deafheaven has nothing to prove to anyone, perhaps they didn't win over the crowd they wanted to but with New Bermuda, they proved that they're not a metal band by accident.

I thought the direction they took with this new full length was a bit surprising, I was expecting them to move forward into post rock territories by praising Mogwai or Godspeed You! Black Emperor but the boys moved towards an even more metallic direction than Sunbather. It's like Kerry McCoy had to prove that he grew while listening to Metallica (he's always wearing these band shirts on stage to prove that he's one of us!) when he was a kid. Thing is, Deafheaven wrote a wide array of super metal riffs for this new album (listen to the metal parts of “Luna” or “Come Back”.) They really put the “metal” into post black metal with these almost Slayer-esque riffs. A complaint I've heard about their previous album is that while the post rock moments were enjoyable, the metal ones weren't but I think it's somewhat the opposite here (to a lesser degree). Some of the calmer moments feel a bit forced or even cheap (like the piano conclusion of the opening track “Brought to the Water). Still, the mix of pop influences with metal is done tastefully, it's almost as if Savage Garden decided to included Norwegian black metal influences in their music at times and I think it's great! The musicianship is impressive, the dual guitars are mixing intricate atmospheric licks with heavy hitting riffs and the drumming is particularly awesome and can switch perfectly between all the styles required.

While George Clarke (a strong dark guru presence on stage) fits the music, I think he's too buried underneath everything on here and a little variety would had been nice. His lyrics are pretentious, that's a given but they're not bad at all. He's not the most interesting vocalist ever but he doesn't overstay his welcome and he lets the songs flow. The five tracks are all between eight and ten minutes and they're all dense, there's not a lot of filler if you actually appreciate their softer, instrumental bits (the introduction of “Baby Blue” is quite stunning and so is its proggy guitar soloing midway through). Sure, some of the transitions between their styles aren't always top notch but there's barely any bands evolving in such crossover styles that are truly proficient at these, Deafheaven are certainly better than most though.

Even if it's different than Sunbather, I doubt their detractors will find something they like here and I bet they will not even give this album a chance. Deafheaven aren't the best band of their generation and they didn't reinvent black metal on their own (Altar of Plagues, Fen or Ash Borer are all their contemporaries and are a bit better) but they're nowhere bad or the “worst thing to ever happen to metal”.

Local Sounds: Volume 3.0

 

Tonight's volume is all about bands with some post hardcore elements who are mixing this with a bunch of other styles. There's 3 bands from the glorious city of Montréal and one from Drummondville, enjoy and don't be afraid to send me recommendations! Thanks to Pascalou and Étienne for some of these recommendations.

Atsuko Chiba – Jinn (2013)

One of the best bands in Montréal, Atsuko Chiba (a character in the anime series Paprika apparently) plays a visceral and super interesting blend of experimental rock, post hardcore, post rock with a mix of explosive and atmospheric guitars. It starts with a 5 minutes psychedelic introduction with some flutes and a lot of Gilmour-esque guitar explorations before. There's not a lot of vocals and there's barely a need for them but it's used sporadically and it works well. “Qvox” has this excellent At the Drive-In influence with these almost rapped, almost screamed vocals. The instrumentation is rich, ranging from acoustic guitars to keyboards, there's a lot of stuff going on here. It's mostly contained in short songs for the genre(s) except for the final track “One Big Happy Family” and its 23 minutes length reminding me of the project of Rodríguez-López and Bixler-Zavala formed when ATDI ended, the mighty The Mars Volta. While it drags a little, the instrumental song has a wide array of emotions ranging from almost metallic guitars to softer moments. I have yet to see them live and I must fix that!

Atsuko Chiba on Bandcamp

The Expectorated Sequence 

First Juice [Power] of the Shit (2014) + The Prolonged Disaster (2011)

These dudes are playing some sort of super heavy grindcore with hardcore, screamo and experimental touches. Their songs are obviously short with a devastating production and vicious vocals. First Juice, their fourth album, is more streamlined and angry than the the excellent The Prolonged Disaster which explored post hardcore, screamo and even metal at times more thorougly (listen to a track like “Scum of the Earth”). The francophone quartet (all their lyrics are in English though) has nothing to envy their American rivals, their sound is dark, brooding and has plenty of heavy riffs intertwined with soft, spacey sporadic moments. Both albums are highly recommended but I prefer The Prolonged Disaster due to its versatility. It's insane music that makes you feel good!

Expectorated Sequence on Bandcamp

Nous étions – La manière noire (2014)
Il a des trous dans le ciel!
The screamo/hardcore/post hardcore Nous Étions (we were in English) are about to start recording their debut full length after two pretty good Eps and I'm sure it will be extremely interesting. Their approach is quite lovely, melding harsh but understandable vocals (with poetic French lyrics) with heavy guitars full of feeling that are still incisive enough. There's a lot of introspective moments too like the beautiful “Le Journal De Ricardo Lopez” and while the vocals are constantly on the hardcore spectrum, La manière noire (the black way) is a surprisingly soothing release. The melting pot of genres (minus black metal) isn't quite far from what Deafheaven did with their seminal and future classic Sunbather. 
 
Nous Étions on Bandcamp

Politess – Politess (2015)

The project from Drummondville is, based on their own description, “Everything your mom doesn't like” and unless your mother is into experimental hardcore/crust/rock/grind/metal, they're probably right. Their self titled debut full length is one hell of a trip into their musical dementia. Simply by looking at the songtitles, you know you'll spend a special moment with these guys, songs like “The New Chicken”, “Everything I Touch Turns Lesbo” or “Give Me Back My Virginity” are totally bonkers. They're certainly silly but they know how to compose cool stuff with a lot of tempo changes, groovy riffs and screeching vocals. One of the best bands out of Montréal and recommended if you like a huge dose of what the fuck in your music. There's even some saxophone on “La patère” and this adds a Naked City feel to the whole thing. Politess definitely did their homework while listening to Mr. Bungle and Anal Cunt and I'm giving them an A+.

Politess on Bandcamp

Funeral Circle / Gatekeeper split (2015) / 82%

Canadian epic doom united

Two of the best Canadian epic metal bands got together to release this split release and it's a true showcase of the most belligerent style out there. It's a seven inches release with one track from each artist and it's pretty damn good, it's a great way to get into both bands and serves as a succulent appetizer.

Side A

Funeral Circle's "Hades Triumphant" marks the debut studio performance of Jean-Pierre Abboud but also the departure of their lead guitarist and composer Matthew Barzegar so it's sort of an end to a chapter. I saw this lineup at their first Montréal gig last year at the second edition of Wings of Metal and they totally rocked my world. Their debut album is certainly one of the best Canadian metal albums so it's a bad sad to see this lineup end but it's a successful closure. The seven minutes song starts with an instrumental introduction before we're served the excellent, versatile and classy vocals of JP who's definitely a good fit to their epic doom sound. I was pretty devastated after the split of Borrowed Time (they released one of my favourite albums of the decade) but I was happy that JP decided to join the Circle, he brings a lot of lyricism and intelligence to the fold. Their doom is varied and has a lot of tempo changes, intricate riffs, emotional soloing and this track is no exception. Like its title, the composition is really triumphant and it's proven through the epic vocal patterns and the war like percussion. I can't wait to see what will the new lineup of Funeral Circle will do.

These memories of yesterday bring warmth, and keep bitter winds at bay...

Side B

While there's obvious similarities between the two bands, Gatekeeper mainly plays heavy metal but this song has clear epic doom influences. Gatekeeper, formerly based in Calgary but Jeff Black, their leader/guitarist/composer recently moved to Vancouver so this is also the last release of this particular lineup. The song named "Bell of Tarantia" (a city in the Conan world) is a tight heavy song and it starts with some bells (duh?) and a river flowing before giving us super epic dual lead guitars melodies and the soaring clean vocals of Shorre McColman (I think his contribution will be dearly missed). I think their songwriting is better here than on their 2013 debut extended play and while I haven't really digested their other 2015 split release (this time with Texas' Eternal Champion), it seemed to be on the faster side than this track. Gatekeeper is a great mix of sword & sorcery classic heavy metal with a slight and enjoyable epic doom sound and I really enjoyed their side. It's not exactly the most original thing around but it's done with care and skill.Hopefully, Black will be able to form a new lineup that's as strong as this one.

Heroes pyre at the castle spire / While a solemn belfry tolls

This split is the definite proof that Canadian metal (sup Darkthrone?) is in good shape and deserves more attention. While it has a runtime of fourteen minutes, I'm left on my appetite and I wanted more tasty epic nourishment, I guess I'll go spin some Cromlech, another excellent Canadian epic doom band while waiting for more material from these two groups. Bonus point for the cool Karmazid cover art, this guy rules.

Facebook Circle
Gatebooker

Interview with J-F Bertrand (Athros) of Starlight Ritual, Forteresse, Brume d'Automne...

Bertrand at the first Starlight Ritual gig as part of the 2015 Grimposium with Cardinal Wyrm in August.

J-F Bertrand, also known as Athros or Athros Nordmen, is a musician from Québec who's in Forteresse, Brume d'Automne, Nordmen and more recently released an album with Starlight Ritual, a new traditional metal project (read my review of their debut album here). It's my dearest pleasure to have this chat with him.

• You're well known for your contribution to many Québécois black metal bands but you recently released an excellent album with Starlight Ritual, a band exploring heavy metal and traditional doom metal. Did you wanted to do something more akin to traditional metal since a while? It's a project that's really different from what we're used to from you.

Yes, totally! Guitar as always been my main interest and with Starlight Ritual I can explore this instrument further. I’ve always been a fan of classic metal, not only the songs but the sound. The music is so alive on old recordings, it is very inspiring. Starlight Ritual is not a side project but my main band and only focus. Musically it as nothing to do with my previous work so I choose not to use my MNQ name.

• What were your influences and inspirations for this project? Also, what are your recent discoveries?

There is a lot, in the band we have diverse influences and it helps to create a unique vibe. As for myself, classic and hard rock, heavy and doom metal, overdriven old Marshalls tones and screaming solos are my thing. I am always satisfied discovering new bands with the old school spirit. My latest discovery is the Canadian band Spell.

• Tell me how the band got formed. Did you knew these guys for a while?

Starlight Ritual's self titled
debut album

I knew Lou, Dan and Forge for years, and we jammed together for a long time until we decided to form Starlight Ritual. Lou Weed and I used to jam together after school 17 years ago. It was about time we put something together! Damian (vocals) joined the band shortly after it’s creation, and his powerful vocals complete the line-up with force. It’s the loudest project I’ve took part in to date!

• What's up with having several projects like you have, how do you plan your time for each of them?
  

Well, Starlight Ritual is my main band and we rock weekly. My black metal projects are mostly studio projects and don’t require steady rehearsals except when Forteresse is playing live.

• Do you think the politics surrounding Forteresse is a burden? I remember this whole debacle about the band playing the first Messe des Morts some years ago... How can it be compared to playing in a band like Starlight Ritual that isn't socially or politically engaged?

I never liked politics, and there was a lot of trouble going on around the first few Forteresse gigs, but I did enjoy the controversy haha! I remember we got pulled off the bill on the first MdM, since we were wrongly accused of being an NS band, probably a false interpretation of Quebec’s nationalism. I’ll say it again just in case those fools are still around: Forteresse is not an NS band. We finally played the gig anyway, drunk, and with no sound check. It was awful, but I keep good memories of it. It feels good now to only care about rock and roll!

• Can you tell me some information concerning the next Forteresse album? What's the direction the band is choosing to take?

The new Forteresse album is going to be very intense, continuing on the same path as Wendigo. Moribond, Fiel, Matrak and I will complete the line-up. They have composed some insane songs, stay tuned.

• Brume d'Automne just announced that they'll play their first gig ever at the next Messe des Morts (the 5^th edition) this November, any comments about that?

Well, I won’t take part in this event and I don’t approve it. As the guitarist, bassist, drummer and song arranger, I can hardly see how this gig can be a true Brume d’Automne gig. The fans need to be respected, so Nordet and those guys better do their homework, and do it well.

• A question for the gear fanatics: what's different between Starlight Ritual and your other projects. Guitars, amps, tones, etc…
  

Picture courtesy of Damian Warner

Starlight Ritual is playing with vintage gear. Old Laney and Marshall heads cranked up to get those huge overdriven tones. The guitars we use are made by Indie Guitar Co from Cornwall, Ontario. They have hot ceramic pickups which helps in making those old amps bark and scream. When I’ve recorded my black metal guitar tracks, I mainly used Fender Strats with single coil pickups and a Peavey 5150 amplifier. Quite different rigs.

• Thanks for the interview, do you want to add something in particular?

Thanks for the interview, and thanks for supporting Starlight Ritual. Our first EP is out now, and you can check us out on youtube, facebook and bandcamp as well. See you at the next gig. Cheers!


Starlight Ritual on the Metal Archives
J-F's Metal Archives artist page

Metal Bounty Hunter: Volume One

Interesting metal bands presented with shorter reviews instead of my usual, more longwinded style. I'll try to cover a wide plethora of genres, this first volume includes death metal, stoner/doom, heavy/doom and sludge!

Obsolete Mankind – False Awakening (2015) Explosive Montreal death metal

The first release of the Montreal band hits pretty damn hard. Composed of veteran musicians from many bands, Obsolete plays a vicious form of death metal that's highly uncompromising and is devoid of any flourishes and unnecessary details. There's no solos, no breakdowns, no progressive atmospheric breaks, it's hellishly fast and brutal for 35 minutes. The two guitars of Thiel (composer and ex-Neuraxis) and Dufour (leader of Phobocosm) are mechanical, aggressive and there's some of old school grind influences here (we're far from the current brutal death metal sound). The vocals of Marie-Hélène Landry are deep and will nail you on a cross. There's some variety in her vocals and I particularly liked the highest ones (listen to the start of “Distance”) and her socially inclined lyrics are quite interesting (three of the songs are in French as well!). While the compositions are top notch, there's a true lack of diversity here and it's hard to completely withstand the full thing in one sitting even if it's short. It's a decent debut but even bands like Immolation know how to diversify their music while keeping it dark and menacing.
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Chu – XI (2014) Chuuuuuu chuuuuuuuuuu

From Kazakhstan, these five dudes play an atmospheric form of doom/stoner with a great balance between riffs and introspective moments. The short album (28 minutes) only has three songs including a 12 minutes opener but it's packed with content. While there's some vocals here and there, Chu is mostly an instrumental band with a shitload of solid riffing, soulful soloing (check out the solos on “Midgard” and some well placed ominous samples. The presence of two guitarists helps the band go into groovy details and the loud bass certainly fills any space that you could find in an instrumental band. Some moments reminded me of Americans Karma to Burn, it's just solid fun doom from a peculiar country. Now, if they could release a longer album, I'd be happy.
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Chalice – Chalice (2014) Epic pilgrimage to Montpellier

Chalice, from Vermont, is a quite promising epic heavy/doom metal and their debut demo released last year needs more exposure. Lead by a woman named Hagthorn who's mixing medieval-esque clean vocals (listen to the wonderful “Gaudete”) with a more metallic, Manowar influenced delivery, Chalice are my exact cup (chalice?) of tea. The demo, basically a full length running length wise packs 2 very epic longer tracks as its second half with the wonderful “Merlin's Lament” being the longest at 11 minutes. The integration of medieveal elements in both their music and aesthetic was smooth and isn't cheesy like most European power metal about sword & sorcery. Influenced by the likes of Solstice (England) and pure 80s heavy metal, the quintet has solid compositions full of interesting progressions and tasteful twin guitar melodies. It's compelling epic metal with balls, power and some generous bass licks! I can't wait to see what's next for Chalice and hopefully they'll come visit Montreal soon since Montpellier is so near.
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Slave Hands – Collapse (2015) Hell, sin and sludge 

The Helsinki based elusive trio (there's barely any information about 'em online) plays a violent blend of sludge/doom with some hardcore elements and it's totally nasty in the best way possible. Akin to the noisy Americans of Primitive Man, Slave Hands is all about downtuned guitars, slow mournful riffing full of misanthropy and venomous, spiteful vocals. Collape's six tracks are mostly midpaced, slow affairs but they never drag too much and it's a brief but dark recording. I was expecting a hardcore number with the 2 minutes “Modern Day Misanthrope” but it's still a thundering sludge song that will kick your ass into a coffin full of cajun food.The production is airy and lets all the hate flow through the thick guitars and the simple yet effective drumming. Recommended for fans of the genre(s). Like the sample in “Abysmal” says: “fuck the world”.
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PWYC on Bandcamp