Drofnosura - I

DROFNOSURA - I
2014
Indie

For those who never get enough of sludge music and constantly seek the latest band in the genre, Drofnosura is the the new kid on the block. Hailing from Toronto, I is their first album. It's made of three long songs and was released online for a 'pay what you want' price. If the objective was to slip easily into all sludge geeks' iPods, it is probably working. I came across this album by cross-referencing different Canadian bands in the genre, and the least I can say is that Drofnosura was a pleasant surprise.

This first album is a perfect introduction to Drofnosura (which spelled backwards may sounds like a hipster joke). Moulded on the Fistula and Iron Monkey model, it displays slow patterns and an arsenal of fuzz, dirty pedal effects and feedbacks. Despite their length, the song structures are relatively simple. The +13 minutes "Vrill", for example, is divided into three parts: there's the long jam (mellow, harsh, mellow, harsh), followed by the stoner part and its variations, and then another jam based on the first riff. My favourite song is probably "The Sun, If Dying", for its dark and mysterious atmosphere exploding into something ominous.

While repetition is important for sludge music, I feel there are missed opportunities on I: some jams don't add anything to the song but length. The chords progression is often predictable, for better for worse. On the one hand it makes the riff stick in your head, but on the other hand it doesn't make you 'need' to revisit the album very often since you know in advance how it will end.

I found the album's song titles very interesting. While there are not a lot of lyrics, it would have been interesting to read or hear them. I feel like Drofnosura thought lyrics were of secondary importance by the way its screamo-type of vocals were placed far away in the mix.

Drofnosura is nonetheless a very interesting detour for the riffs, if not for the guitars sound. Distortion and overdrive are the Nutella on this album: you know in advance it will be tasty. The drummer often sounds as if he's improvising during the long jams, which makes the recording genuine and unique. In conclusion, if the next album follows the footsteps of this first offering, I would guess that II will be similarly crafted, somewhat predictable, but oh-so good to a sludge fan's ears.

Check it out: http://drofnosura.bandcamp.com/

Near Grey - The Herschel Central Peak

NEAR GREY - The Herschel Central Peak
2013
Indie

The Herschel crater is located on Mimas, a moon of Saturn. Discovered in 1980, this is the largest crater in the Solar System (139 km wide) and was named after astronomer William Herschel who discovered this moon in the late 18th Century.

This historical and astronomical theme serves as the backdrop for the follow up to Near Grey's first EP, released one year earlier. An instrumental post-metal affair, the Montreal band knows exactly how to turn atmospheres into rich textures, without watering down any qualities of a live band. Take a peak at the stunning artwork that points towards the outer limits; a perfect reflection of the musical genre.

The Herschel Central Peak breathes. Its rhythm is relatively slow, without stepping into doom or drone territories, and every note and instrument seem to be joining the party at their own pace, without stress. We can distinguish very clearly all guitars, bass, synth and pedal effects, and drums; yet they blend together very smoothly. What comes to mind when I listen to The Herschel Central Peak is the notion of restraint; there are no overdose of distortion, no hard hits on the drums, no screaming (in fact there are no vocals at all), and the musicality of the album is defined by control, rather than by extreme technique or performance. First song "Sauropod" is a case in point.

Except for a few strategic moments on the album (such as in the end of "Northfield" or in "Cannulated"), there seems to be less intensity variation compared to the previous Near Grey EP, which included the beautiful 18-min long "Néant" for example. With a refined definition of the synth and keyboard sounds, and a better, or should I say "silkier" recording, The Herschel Central Peak nonetheless sounds one step above its predecessor. It includes four songs ranging between 9 and 11 minutes each, which make it ideal to journey through and to revisit.

With lavish atmospheres and chord progression (for example on "Regina"), The Herschel Central Peak is not alien to the musical universes of Russian Circles and Isis. It definitely has its own heartbeat and should draw attention to this excellent band.

Hear for yourself here: http://neargrey.bandcamp.com/album/the-herschel-central-peak

Neige et Noirceur - Gouffre Onirique et Abîmes Cosmiques

NEIGE ET NOIRCEUR - Gouffre Onirique et Abîmes Cosmiques
2013
Sepulchral Productions

Neige et Noirceur are probably one of the most occult, atmospheric black metal name coming out of the province of Quebec. Sole creator behind the entity, Spiritus masters darkness the same way he masters folk heritage and esoteric fantasy. I've been enjoying Neige et Noirceur's discography since the early demos, and while I think the quality of the many albums, splits and EPs has been inconsistent through the years, I was nonetheless looking forward to this new opus of snow and blackness.

A strong keyboard sound welcomes us as we step across the gate of Gouffre Onirique et Abîmes Cosmiques. First track and title song, "Gouffre Onirique..." is familiar ground, as it displays Neige et Noirceur trademark's evil-sounding guitar tone hung in the background, basic bass guitar lines, and an omnipresent orchestration of both artificial and natural noises. The wind blows fiercely on this song, carrying lost whispers, flowing alongside the tremolo picking and enshrouding the slow drum beat. There are no decipherable lyrics here, and no message but a black and cold 6min-27 atmospheric statement that serves as an intro to the album.

The next three songs, "Future Torture", "Écho des Abysses" and "Le Portail de Kadath", bring the extra dark colours over the cold and desolate winter night. This is where the black metal elements take shape, as the saturated vocals join the party, programmed drum accelerates, and the structure shifts slightly into something relatively standard for an atmospheric black metal band (we think of Sorcier des Glaces and Monarque, among others).

Like a bookend after these three songs, "La Marche des Astres Noirs" is reminiscent of the title track with its slow drum and fast guitar picking. The atmosphere created by the contrast of guitars and drums, used by many other bands including Quebec's Forteresse, works well in Neige et Noirceur's favor. I particularly like the arrangements at the end of that song, where an echoing double hit disappears in the distance, replaced by more keys. As this excellent song dies, it leaves a lot of place for the atmospheric (and shakespearean) trilogy "La Caverne de Glace" to be born, gracefully and without any effort. This transition has the powerful effect of dragging us deeper into a dark cave, to a second state of consciousness. To my opinion, this is where the dark magic on this album works best: we can't see where we're heading, but we still feel compelled to move forward.

In terms of artistic approach, Gouffre Onirique et Abîmes Cosmiques looks like another step back into the shadows. After moving slightly into the daylight with La Seigneurie des Loups, and stepping back with Hymnes de la Montagne Noire, I feel that on Gouffre Onirique Neige et Noirceur is somehow moving towards what it established with earlier and more occult releases such as L'Abîme des Jours, l'Écume des Nuits, or Crépuscule Hivernal sur les Terres de la Guerre, for example.

On the bright side, I feel that Neige et Noirceur brought us another interesting atmospheric slab of black metal. Gouffre Onirique et Abîmes Cosmiques possesses a great balance between ambiant parts and black metal moments; the passages are convincing, the songs are captivating. However, I feel that while Neige et Noirceur sticks to its guns with a winning formula, neither its composition nor its sound bring anything new to its discography (it made back the money for that keyboard sound a long time ago), making Gouffre Onirique et Abîmes Cosmiques another part of the same story. While it may not be the best album to start with if you're new to it, previous fans will definitely find something to enjoy as Gouffre Onirique et Abîmes Cosmiques continues the Neige et Noirceur journey.

http://www.zimondofin.com/neigeetnoirceur/
http://sepulchralproductions.bigcartel.com/

Merdarahta - Breathe Electric

MERDARAHTA - breathe electric
2013
Indie

"Noise collective" is the best tag I come up with when I think of Merdarahta. It is experimental, atmospheric, it has a certain 'live' quality (even on its recordings), and its personality is plural.

This collective comes from the greater Ottawa / Gatineau, or National Capital Region. Here we find a fine selection of musicians known for their exploration of music, sounds, recording techniques, etc. It includes members of The Sun Through a Telescope, Fuck the Facts and Black Oak Decline, among others. Despite the common aggressive roots of these other entities, Merdarahta comes as a fresh, distinct, and relatively unrelated project. It is the playing field where musicians bring as many pedals as they can, where they build thick walls of textures (in opposition to focussing on riffs or moments), and where they can loop ideas without end. Live, it is more of a transcendental exercise: the creation of layers emanates on stage from single musicians and it is being experienced as a silent communion by the audience. In other words, for many reasons this music is elsewhere... it is reversed.

Breathe Electric is the third album, or compilation of ideas from Merdarahta. I say 'ideas', since the collective seems to be working on series of common textures at a time (exploration sessions?), and the result is expressed through serial song titles: "Snake Charmer I-IV", "Towers I-III", "Fault of Air I-III", ... The latest album starts with "Breathe II", a 5:19-minute construction that follows the footsteps of "Breathe" (the first track on the previous compilation). It is high on oxygen, with delicate guitar textures floating here and there, and a light atmosphere suited for an opening track.

Like the different phases of sleep, Breathe Electric quickly switches to something deeper and darker. The "Electric" series (I-VI) is a different beast than "Breathe", or even "Fault of Air". While the latter could have been some kind of cosmic exploration devoided of light and darkness, "Electric" is a passage to a darker tone.

Atmospheric music like Merdarahta could be compared to the process of sleeping, dreaming, or even thinking: it is formless and very abstract from the structural point of view, while staying connected to a distant musical idea.

"Electric" seems to bear a hidden thought the background; something that passes behind our eyes as we listen to the music. While "Breathe" is like the doorstep of the unconscious mind and mixes dream and reality like coffee and milk, "Electric" becomes the dissolution of reality, like a shutter closing our eyes and dragging us further away into the subconscious. Static textures and droning sounds are the powerful magnets found on the numbered tracks of "Electric". Like restless sleep, these channels are textured by stress. Repetitive distorted bass, for example on "Electric III", is laid on an immobile fog of distant noise, while other instrumental presences are appearing and disappearing around us. Everywhere throughout "Electric", when vocals appear, they are tortured and positioned in the distance like fragments of thought lost in a dream.

This music doesn't provide any sense of time: we can hardly say if we're in the beginning, middle or end of a song, as there's a strong impression of immobilism. I however find a certain logic in the slow procession of tracks--i.e. levels of intensity.

The collective and live quality of Merdarahta can be heard in the instrumentation. While I wouldn't try making a list of the instruments or the effects they use, I can easily recognize the drums, guitars, bass and vocals. Merdarahta is eons away from the computer generated /synth effects / one man band. This singular characteristic makes it rich and intricate.

Next time you feel like leaving this earthly plane of existence, get your tickets here:
http://merdarahta.bandcamp.com/album/breathe-electric

Hellébore - Anouof Thwo

 

 

HELLÉBORE - Anouof Thwo

2013

Indie

 

Dark, yet bright as a cloudless sky in the middle of the night, Hellébore is a one man atmospheric black metal band from Québec City. Given the plethora of "metal noir" bands in the Belle Province capital, this one comes nonetheless as a refreshing comet in the genre's horizon.

 

Anouof Thwo was made available online, and then released on cassette in 2013. Despite the forty minutes length, this album is (mostly) articulated around two long songs, "Aootw" and "Les Martiens étaient là...", the former being without a doubt the best moment of the album. We also find two short intro / interludes, "Étoiles d'eau" and "Udrea", and one 6-minutes progressive song, "... réfléchis dans l'eau".

 

Lo-fi and visibly homemade, it has the primitive raw emotional charge of a constellation of other black metal bands. Nonetheless, one particular quality caught my attention and showed that Hellébore has something distinct from the mass. As expressed by the cover artwork, Anouof Thwo has a certain "naivety" of ideas, one that is natural for a newcomer, but harder to retrieve for a seasoned musician. It takes the shape of weird electro sounds and questionable programming; a very slippery slope that could normally require a project to stay anonymous, but in some cases, like this one, it just happen to become the magic ingredient that sets the band apart. Hellébore integrates loop reverberation over the guitars as well as 80's space-like synth effects to create a captivating soundscape. Sprinkled over the music, it adds a lot to the atmospheric quality of the whole. Also, positioned in the middle of the five songs, we find an interlude called "Udrea" whose electro/trip hop rhythmic, keyboards and off voice (samples?) bring a short and uncanny momentum between the long black metal songs.

 

Visibly a one-man thing, it is not a surprise to find programmed drums on Anouof Thwo. Along with the repetitive and hypnotic guitar riffing, the oversaturated vocals, and the rich layers of synth in the distance, it brings Hellébore closer to the universes of Neige et Noirceur and Poète Maudit.

 

It should be obvious at this point: Anouof Thwo includes incomprehensible names and meanings--or maybe it's just me who couldn't find the meanings--making the project obscure and mysterious... Other titles such as "Les Martiens étaient là" (Martians were there) give another reading however, one that is not as serious and that makes me think the Maker of Hellébore is having fun with us.

 

Overall, this black star is a good discovery. With its odd alien flavour, Anouof Thwo is a very interesting addition to the Québec atmospheric black metal landscape. Let's hope Hellébore picks up on these strengths and releases a follow up to this odyssey sometimes in the near future.

 

http://hellebore.bandcamp.com/

http://solynieve.bigcartel.com/product/hellebore-anouof-thwo

 

Away - Cities

AWAY - Cities
2013
Utech Records

Michel "Away" Langevin, famous for his drumming in the avant-garde band Voivod and for his psychedelic sci-fi album art, has had many side projects over the years, some more surprising than others. Musically speaking, we should mention the superb electro-rock project Kosmos, and also Les Ékorchés, an acoustic-metal outfit, among others. He also designed many album covers, from the instrumental Humanoid to the technical progressive band Behold the Arctopus, Dave Grohl's Probot side-project, and most of Voivod's discography. A hard cover biography, "Worlds Away", was written about him by none other than Martin Popoff in 2009, offering for the first time a holistic portrait of the artist and his legacy.

At first glance, Cities comes as another UFO in Away's portfolio: it is experimental and artistic rather than being instrumental or musical. Consisting of a selection of recordings made between 2010 and 2012, the cd is a series of soundtracks from various locations across the world. From an extra-terrestrial point of view, the theme almost seems to be the visual and audible congregation of mankind in its daily habit. For you and me, however, it's hard to separate the spectacular events from the ordinary when we don't know the context of these recordings.

While listening to Cities, we end up trying to guess the backstory of each chapter: are we in Montréal's metro? Is this a bohemian musician in a public square in Europe? On another track, is it an intercultural celebration that we hear? Back to Montréal in 2012, is this one of the famous student demonstrations? Why do we hear a series of names in Mexico City in 2012? Is Away trying to show us excerpts of the cultural exchanges in each of these cities or is he just interested in music used in public spaces across the world? While we don't find answers to these questions in the booklet, it is clear that the individual events aren't the real subject of this album. Likewise, the track titles are both abstract and anonymous: "Europe 2011", "Chicago 2012", "Montréal 2010", etc. While the string of stories is somewhat obscure, all of these public spaces tell us that despite our different cultures, we share a common experience of the city.

Like the lives behind its walls, Cities has many different layers. The top skin is made of Michel "Away" Langevin's talented, eerie graphic art. The white cd (white on white) slips out of a plain black envelope, folded in a matte 4-page booklet. There are two drawings, printed in white and silver, depicting a single entity surrounded by a cityscape. It is simple, but powerful.

The artistic approach to this album is close to an audio novel: not a documentary, but a traveller's personal journal. This form of testimony has been popular throughout history, especially for explorers. In Away's case, it is unpretentious, abstract, and anonymous to a certain degree. It is not narrated, and there aren't any audio traces of the traveller. On Cities, we are a mute witness into what Away has been recording; but we are only experiencing glimpses of it.

The graphic art of Cities pays hommage to another graphic genre: the wordless novel. Mostly associated with engraving, these mostly black-and-white books used to be precursors to the comic strips. They emerged in the 20th Century, parallel to the idea of a Global Village, like universal translators that helped share personal stories from one continent to another. We can think of the dark realities of the Great Depression as depicted by Giacomo Patri and Laurence Hyde, or the dramatic figures of Lynd Ward (picture below).

 

Frans Masereel (1889-1972) is regarded as the first master of wordless novels. Between the two World Wars, at a time when cities were starting to change drastically and mankind was experiencing the good, the bad and the ugly of these new challenges, the wordless novel was a way to express the hopes, challenges, frustrations, and despair of many of these men and women.

There is a strong iconological link between Away's Cities and the wordless novels. Beyond the iconographic elements of the cover artwork of Cities, we become witnesses to this fast-paced, dynamic urban environment. Although it is an anonymous journey, the omnipresent mute presence behind the recording tells us we are single entities watching and listening, as this world turns. In other words, on Cities, we are ghosts wandering through places and time.

Away has a strong artistic background, and while his new project steps further in the avant-garde audio garden, it also follows a rich artistic heritage: one of graphic art and storytelling.

Neige et Noirceur - Natura Mortis Sonoris

NEIGE ET NOIRCEUR - Natura Mortis Sonoris
2013
Dusktone

At first glance, Natura Mortis Sonoris is like an odd ball in Neige et Noirceur's discography. First, this is not a black metal album and it will seem out of place for those who have only heard the post-2010 albums (especially La Seigneurie des Loups, and Hymnes de la Montagne Noire). Second, this is a compilation of songs taken from different albums, EPs and demos: out of their original context, the atmosphere these songs used to create is somehow lost, or at least heavily altered.

All of Neige et Noirceur's albums/EPs that I know had an atmospheric black metal 'thing' at their core. There were drums, guitars, and lyrics. Natura Mortis Sonoris goes the opposite direction. It is shapeless, boneless, but scary nonetheless. The songs are either excerpts, extended, or simply different versions from the ones we find on the original albums. They cover many of the pre-2010 releases, starting with the very first 2005 demo, Pour te Dire la Fin. Like a hand-picked selection of monochromatic Smarties, they are the dark tones that dressed the original albums in their mourning clothes.

This compilation may be a curved ball for Neige et Noirceur, but it achieves its goal perfectly. It shows us what stands under the ghoulish atmospheric black metal cloak: melancholy, solitude, fear, and darkness. These feelings have been moving every single release, but on Natura Mortis Sonoris they are pure.

On the one hand, there are very few beats or musical tempos throughout the 15 songs, except maybe for "3rd Hymne Fragment", "Aux Portes de la Crypte" or "Loudun (part 1)". Even when "Orlok" kicks in with a brief and distant blastbeat, it is covered by a heavy layer of keyboards. On the other hand, this compilation contains a diversity of noises, instruments, and artistic directions. There are footsteps, wind, animal sounds, bells, keyboards, acoustic guitars, off voices (movie excerpts), echoes, and space/void. The songs come in and out like fading waves, or like feverish nightmares that keeps pulling us back into an endless night.

For an atmospheric album, this is refreshing and very interesting. It is as dynamic as an album from This is Past, yet as haunting as Wolvserpent. All of that plus a unique, personal aesthetic.

Natura Mortis Sonoris reminded me why I liked Neige et Noirceur in the first place. The sculptured atmospheres are very suggestive: keyboard and synth sounds are definitely artificial, while animated sounds (animals, humans, wind) are plenty. Whether we call it occult, scary, cartoonish or colourful, it definitely has a strong character.

While I really enjoy this album - just as much as any of Neige et Noirceur's full lengths - I find the songs too short. Atmosphere requires time; in order to lose myself into a dark melancholic album, I need a catharsis of more than 3 or 4 minutes. Sure enough, there is a 12+ minutes "Loin des Hommes, Prêt [sic] des Bêtes", but I feel that more of these would have allowed the listener to dive deeper into the Neige et Noirceur world. This is unfortunate, since everything else is flawless.

http://dusktone.bigcartel.com
http://www.dusktone.eu
http://www.zimondofin.com/neigeetnoirceur/