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/

Warground - Sorrowful Sounds of Emptiness (EP)

WARGROUND - Sorrowful Sounds of Emptiness
2013
Depressive Illusions Records

The title says it all. Sorrowful Sounds of Emptiness is the soundtrack for a season in damnation. It is gloomy, foggy, chilly, and static like a curtain of black heavy clouds that doesn't want to move away from the sun. However, this is not a doom, a funeral doom nor a black metal album, but a collection of plain atmospheric compositions.

It comes in an A5 dvd-case format, perfect to conjure the vastness of the music. Inside, we find three "songs" of 7 to 9 minutes that speak the same language. First song "Broken" is like a fall, a magnetic call of the Great Void, evoken by waves of keys/synth. It is monolithic, offering almost no variations and an unclear structure. Heavy yet vaporous, it brings the listener into a state of unbalance. "The Darkened Path of Sadness" follows, with a few reverberated notes in the dark, muffled by a veil of atmospheric long keys notes. The sky clears a bit, but only to discover that the sun is gone: it's nighttime, and it's cold. The trilogy of soundscapes ends with "A Land Taken by the Nothing", probably my favorite of the three compositions. Here we are presented with the essence of the title. We find a few delicate notes, gently laid like faeries corpses resting on fallen leaves. I would not qualify it as depressive, but rather as ominous because of the black atmosphere weighing on us through repetitive waves of keys.

In my book, an atmospheric album needs a lot of qualificatives. Sorrowful Sounds of Emptiness is what I would call a tunnel of emotions. These are monolithic and monochromatic creations. There is a limited range of instruments involved and the structures are relatively straightforward. When I listen to these songs, I feel absorbed into a vortex, but not drained of emotions, as if the songs are channels of thoughts rather than seeds of negativity. Constricted in the middle of the night, the songs capture something we do not exactly understand, something that has been morphed into sounds. In other words, Sorrowful Sounds of Emptiness is hypnotic and contemplative. Warground aptly says about its music: "There are those paths inside oneself that dare not be followed".

The 3 songs could have been soundtracks to heavier atmospheric metal tracks, or sublime outros on albums. Nonetheless, released together, the three soundscapes make an interesting ensemble.

Sorrowful Sounds of Emptiness comes as an interesting step in the Warground discography. The one-man raw black metal name has been in existence since 2012 and has two other releases already. Check these out as well, for they would appeal to fans of the raw depressive black metal cult entity Nortt. Overall, I find interesting to have a different look at Warground, and hear this exploration of sounds.

https://www.facebook.com/WargroundBand
http://depressiveillusions.com/

Loviatar - Druid's Curse (EP)

LOVIATAR - Druid's Curse
2013
Indie

Druid's Curse is the third installment in the Loviatar EP trilogy. About four months after the previous Widow's Flame and a year and a half after the Eternal Sons debut, we find another 3-songs cd, housed in a digi sleeve, with a similar layout, the same line-up, and a similar length. The least we can say is that Loviatar is consistent and approaches the construction of its EPs very seriously. Both on the visual and the musical point of view, Druid's Curse strenghtens very efficiently the band's discography, like an affirmation of its song writing and band imagery.

The fantasy continues: Loviatar's world rocks around mythical characters, as displayed by the beautiful artwork and the tracks' name.

The powerful "Curse of the Hamadryad" launches the journey with a thick wall of sound. All the instruments are burning hot and signal that we are in for a ride. The drum's skins are more silky and defined than before, the guitars have been pulled back a little bit in the mix, and there is a creamy coat of reverb tying them to the vocals' effects. Incredibly good and catchy for a post-metal / doom act, vocals are clean and upfront. The bass guitar makes use of a slight distortion and can be easily distinguished with its rich bottom and guitar picking, a sound and technique that reminds me of Mouth of the Architect, Cult of Luna and Buried Inside. It sometimes slides up and down, follows the bass drum chirurgically, or walks around like a punk rock band, adding interesting colors to the music. As for the guitars, they cover the rest of the spectrum, from left to right, from North to the South, with either atmospheric, piccolo, or straightforward playing.

The guitar work is probably best illustrated in "Elephant Graveyard", the second and instrumental track. While the bass gets clean and modest, the guitars take all the place available. They start with a few atmospheric, isolated notes, building gradually an emotive charge until it reaches its apex with lots of cymbals and chords, and dies again. When arrangements are this good, the music speaks for itself.

The doom gland is sollicitated anew on "Frost Druid", the third and last track of the EP. It has a few dragging and bluesy notes, some eruption into heavier post-metal, with bits of piccolo picking and sparks of hi-hat cutting through the reverb coating of the mix - all good ingredients to approach traditional doom while staying away from the depressive tone of it. This song is a direct dialogue with "Eternal Famine", the first song on the first EP: not only because of the doomy riffs, but also because of the "oh-oh-oh" chants. Positioned last on the EP, it is a clever reference addressed to those who have been following the band so far, coming full circle with Loviatar's EP trilogy.

Druid's Curse is 12 minutes well invested. There are no missteps, nothing is lacking, and nothing is redundant. It is without a doubt the best of the three Loviatar EPs; something you can spin any time, any day, without getting tired of it. It is also one of the best examples of Mike Bond's recording and production skills.

Druid's Curse is definitely one of the best Canadian metal EPs of 2013.

http://loviatar.bandcamp.com/album/druids-curse
http://loviatardoom.com/

Sombres Forêts - La Mort du Soleil

SOMBRES FORÊTS – La mort du soleil
2013
Sepulchral Productions

Métal noir, the Quebec self identification for francophone black metal, has become quite a fruitful nest. From Forteresse to Chasse-Galerie, and from Mysothéisme to Neige et Noirceur, it offers a large variety of genres – covering all of the orthodox, raw, pagan and atmospheric ends of the spectrum. Far from being second grade stagnant or nostalgic, the métal noir scene got the attention of a worldwide horde of black metallers around the world for its fine line-ups and avant-garde bands.

Quebec City’s Sombres Forêts is no newcomer. The offspring of brainchild Annatar, it built a solid reputation over two albums, including 2008’s Royaume de Glace. Annatar also participated with fellow label mates Neptune and Icare from Gris to a well-received side project, Miserere Luminis in 2009. Moving the journey further, La Mort du Soleil, the latest release under the Sombres Forêts moniker, brings these ideas to a new level.

La Mort du Soleil falls right into the atmospheric black metal category. Mid paced, it breathes all the way through, with a balance between heavy instrumentation and melancholic piano or guitar passages. With an absence of blast beats and very few moments of piccolo guitars attack, we get closer to latter-days Drudkh (for example on “L’Éther”) than any post-metal take on atmospheric black metal. Layers and layers of nature-like sounds, including thunderstorms, chilly winds and unknown sounds have been added, as well as additional vocals, extra guitars, and percussions. There is an impressive mastery of reversed guitars incorporation across the landscape, and rich yet delicate coats of reverb added to the music, reminding me vaguely of Arcana Coelestia and Dolorian. At certain moments, I even thought I could hear the very subtle guitar familiarity with some French avant-garde black metal bands such as Deathspell Omega (“La Disparition”).

This tasty mix of technical approaches is serving well the general atmosphere proposed by the album. Deeply melancholic, it navigates the seas of 19^th Century Romanticism. The artwork itself, designed by French artist Fursy Teyssier, is a manifest homage to J.M. William Turner’s (1775-1851) paintings. Dark, stormy and indefinite, but also beautifully powerful, it depicts perfectly the moods and atmosphere found on the eloquently-titled La Mort du Soleil.

Sombres Forêts’ third album is grandiose and its greater merit is that it will undoubtly appeal to a larger audience than métal noir bands usually do. For many, this will probably be the first atmospheric black metal album they listen to and enjoy. For many others (myself included), I think it is an album that continues the path already laid by a few others, including Gris. On that note, it would be hard not to draw comparisons with the latter: both bands are using trademark suffering screams, both released their latest album through Sepulchral Productions on the same day, and both crossed path recently in Miserere Luminis. Check out both bands, and pick up a copy of La Mort du Soleil.

www.sepulchralproductions.com
www.sepulchralproductions.bigcartel.com
www.sombresforets.blogspot.ca

Dopethrone - III

DOPETHRONE - III
2012
Indie

As its title suggests, III is the third album from Dopethrone. At this stage we know exactly what to expect from the Montréal trio: a dirty cocktail made with the crushing heaviness of sludge, the trippy grooves of stoner metal, and the general simplicity and darkness of doom. You only have to think about Electric Wizard (where the band took its name) to get a general idea of the music, although it evolved into something else not unfamiliar with the likes of Sleep or Zoroaster. Being precursors of other stoner/doom bands on the Montréal metal scene, and an inspiration for many (including Buffalo Theory Mtl), Dopethrone developed a cult following and generated an interest abroad by touring extensively.

The title III is somewhat appropriate for it follows closely the previous two offerings. III is all about continuity, bringing no suprises, and slowly moving one step further to make it even better than before. This time around, Dopethrone got a more defined production; something we notice immediately on the mid-hi spectrum as the cymbals tend to be brighter and cover more than before. For the rest, we have the exact same style of music, about the same number of songs and length as on the previous Dark Foil, and the oh-so-good filthy patches of dirt stuck on their guitars. The themes seem to continue their journey onto the seas of dope and murder - we even find a cool little sampler speech on "Storm Reefer" about marijuana, set against a backdrop of dirty bass and drum.

Playing a Dopethrone album make your house go humid and warm every time. Left alone the rings of smoke, we could call it swamp metal... It's nice and ugly, its moving and depressed at the same time. I find the sheer heaviness of the band to be highly addictive, in good parts due to the granular distortion of the guitars, the low tuning, and the monstrous screaming. The riffs and grooves have this rockish twist that make'em easily enjoyable. And with such a beautiful cover artwork, one can't avoid the Dopethrone.

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

Skagos - Anarchic

SKAGOS - Anarchic
2013
Eternal Warfare / The Flenser Records

Don't judge a book by its cover. Many people's first reaction, looking at Skagos' latest album cover, would be to think we are on British soil, with such a title as Anarchic (God Saves the Queen!), and an overused illustration of William Blake (1757-1827), a British national artist. Based in British Columbia, Skagos has embraced various personal causes and received random or unexpected coverages, including MetalSucks.net's Completely Unreadable Band Logo of the Week.

Skagos is generally placed on the atmospheric black metal shelf, but on Anarchic we find it definitely on the far end of that shelf. The music is beyond black metal and post-black, being very progressive, or rather evolutive in its structure. At times, it definitely has some blast beats and raw guitar sound; but at other times we are visiting any genres but metal. Vocals in general vary between the thin death metal screams of Cynic and the clean post-black vocals of early Ulver - yet it incorporates a variety of choirs, clean singing, and a somewhat colourful palette of other techniques.

Released in different formats during the Winter, Anarchic was re-released by The Flenser on CD format in its full extended version. Previous to this album, Skagos has released another full length and a handful of EPs and Splits since 2007, including an excellent one with Panopticon. On Anarchic, the production is somewhat "cleaner": it has a lot more mid-hi and hi-ends, which gives it more definition, while retaining its characteristic mid-fi edge.

I can understand why there are different versions. Broken down into seven parts, Anarchic generally comes as a download into 2 or 3 blocks; these parts are more or less 'songs', but rather 'moments' knitted together into one long song.

In the beginning, it all starts with waves of chaotic but gentle guitar feedbacks and distant clean strings. Once the mood is set, it smoothly turns into a progressive intro where calm singing overlay some simple progressive guitars. ...Then, from the deep, gushes out the black metal.

This black metal borders post-black metal, or more closely what our southern neighbors have nicknamed "Cascadian black metal": it is fast, linear and repetitive, it incorporates some folk or acoustic guitar parts and can sometimes be simple in its execution, it is mostly mid-fi in its production, but very intense overall. At some point after the 12:30 bar, we can almost hear a Transylvanian Hunger reference, although we are on a totally different planet with Skagos. What I like about this band, and what differentiates it from other Cascadian black metal outfits, are the surprises that colour the music and bring us places we didn't expect, as natural as an invitation, and taking its time without forcing our hand.

The whole album flows with great ease. When the black metal part ends, like after a heavy Summer rain, we are left with clean or acoustic strings, a few atmospheric drops of electric guitars, scattered chants, and peaceful quietness. Comparisons could be drawn with Agalloch.

Back to the theme, the idea of anarchy is not innocent. On this release, anarchy speaks to chaos, the great Chaos that lies behind Creation. Depicting this relation, we have an image behind another on the cover; more specifically there is a picture of nature hidden behind Urizen, Blake's artistic reference to the divine Creator. It comes as no surprise that nature is also a recurrent theme used by folk and black metal, and part of this inspiration on the West Coast are the Cascades mountains, or Canadian Rockies beyond the Great White North border. The concept of Anarchic is rather powerful, and the music convinces us. The journey back to the origins of life itself is long, but Skagos is masterfully able to carry us along the way until we find it deep inside of us.

25-some minutes after it all started, when all drums and distortion fade out, we plunge deep into It, and we face It. An off-voice speaks to us, while speaking to itself: "It seems the World was born out of an injury; some great wound inflicted into something that was here before...". At this point we are all ears, as it continues deep down into its own reflections. When it dies, a trembling voice picks it up, singing strong, although fragile and plaintive at the same time, over an atmospheric background music. Beautiful as frailty, the solitary narrative thread moves the journey further.

From this point on, and for another long passage, we are no longer visiting the realms of black metal, not even post-black, and all tags become useless. We can feel the influences of British bands like Anathema, and the distant call of Pink Floyd. We are lost; but we are peaceful.

This first half of the album is followed by its journey back, equally beautiful and full of contrasts. Despite some lengths, Anarchic is one album that has to be experienced from start to finish, alone. It bears darkness and light at the same time, and has a perfect balance between chaos and serenity.

Skagos has this ability to transport us and to create waves of feelings. Their music is taking its time, and it doesn't bother with the concept of "songs". Their invitation is personal, and there is some form of sacred silence necessary to appreciate it fully. It has been a long time since I've experienced such an introspective album, one that plunges you deep into the core. For this I am in awe.

For fans of Panopticon, Ulver, Alda, and Agalloch.

http://theflenser.bandcamp.com/album/anarchic
http://theflenser.com/

White Lake Mountain - Demo (demo)

WHITE LAKE MOUNTAIN - Demo
2013
Indie

Some time ago, I reviewed a band called The Unavowed, from Ottawa. They had released one epic EP called War, that offered the best of heavy, stoner, and crust altogether. When I heard that two of the band members were now in another band called White Lake Mountain, from the same area, I was very curious to hear what it would sound like.

Earlier this Spring, White Lake Mountain posted a four-tracks demo online. This project not only demonstrates that the ex-Unavowed are still rocking hard, but also that there's a new solid stoner rock entity in the National Capital. Along with Chris Mesner on drums and Nick Toone on bass, the band introduces the excellent Joe Hammond and H. Figurine on guitars. Vocal duties are shared by Toone and Hammond, in a heavy rockers style.

Apparently a home recording, this demo has nothing particular about its production. Call it raw, crust, or garage, it's not important when it comes to a demo, as long as it rocks - and this is exactly what this demo does. The four songs display a certain stylistic range, from dirty rock ("Cataclysmic Skies") to stoner doom ("Behemoth"), with equal ease at both ends. On the musicianship level, the two guitars approach is worthy of mention, for example on "When the Sleeper Wakes" (a song that reminds me of Mortification's song "Influence", in a good way).

This demo's song titles tell me something epic is coming our way - let's hope White Lake Mountain doesn't stop there.

www.whitelakemountain.com
https://soundcloud.com/#wlmband

Towards Darkness - Barren

TOWARDS DARKNESS - Barren
2012
Avantgarde Music

Funeral Doom is not a popular style in Canada - quite the opposite -, and bands that follow this path are not only few, but they also are mostly unknown on the underground scene. It's no wonder to see this ultra-specialized branch looking towards an international network. Nonetheless, Canada has some top-notch bands in the genre like Towards Darkness, a quiet band hailing from Montreal.

After a first album released under the moniker The Mass and entitled Towards Darkness, the formation changed its name and released Solemn, a suffocating yet intricating album in 2007. This proved to be an important step in the band's journey, as it started moving towards a different approach, more metal, and darker. This slow descent brings us Barren, five years later. Minimalistic, heavy and coated in a refined production, the four-tracks is a monolithic 55-minutes slice of grandiose desolation. The drum recording is crystal clear, and its decomposed patterns carry all the weigth of the music genre. There are passages of clean guitars, ambiant melancholic melodies that float here and there, but then again most of Barren is made of those heavy clouds of strings that rolls over the desertic landscape. There are no viruosity or technical feat here; just heaviness skimmed to its very bones. The choice to aim for a clean production gives the album an impressive depth, and adds a lot to the sterile looking overall atmosphere.

I like Towards Darkness because of the original path it took. Although it professes funeral doom, it came to it via sludge and bands like Neurosis. Here we find the monolithic guitar riffs, the droning routines, the layers of noise, and the hardcore accent of the vocals. Having said that, the band followed the road to exploration, and their original influences morphed into something else. One specific aspect of their sound, on Barren, is the keyboard. Filling most of the void with various notes and background layers, it seems to be influenced by the richness of finnish funeral doom. The result of this blend makes Barren an album that stands out in the genre.

Like a supergroup, Towards Darkness has impressive musicianship: Nick Richards from Show of Bedlam on drums, Kevin Jones also an ex-Show of Bedlam and ex-Negativa on guitars, Joël Cyr on guitars, and Simon Carignan from Longing for Dawn on keyboards and sound effects. As if it wasn't enough, they had guest guitarists Samuel Dufour from Vengeful and the late Steeve Hurdle from ex-Negativa and ex-Gorguts.

For those who dig the Neurosis influence in them, I would recommend their earlier efforts - but if you like the funeral death edge of Barren, I recommend looking into the equally excellent band Longing for Dawn.

http://www.lastfm.fr/music/Towards+Darkness

Loviatar - Widow's Flame (EP)

LOVIATAR - Widow's Flame EP
2012
Indie

Nested in the small post-hardcore/sludge/doom community of Ottawa, conveniently located mid-way through the Toronto-Montreal corridor where most touring bands travel, Loviatar is making a name for itself as an opening act.

Widow's Flame is the second EP from Loviatar. This time again the production is really good, being recorded at Pebbles Studio by Mike Bond, who also happens to play bass with the band. Interesting enough, Widow's Flame is the second in a series of short EPs released by Loviatar - the third one being expected somewhere in Spring 2013. Like Eternal Sons, the first one, it has a very simple design, with a focus on the clean minimalistic logo, and is housed in a cardboard packaging. This time again, the EP title is a play of words based on the two original songs found on the album, i.e. "Flametongue" and "Widow's Walk". Since these EPs are so short (this one is 11 minutes long), continuity between them contributes to defining the identity of Loviatar.

We find ourselves again in a world of fantasy, where post-metal meets doom, where the songs and texts are epic. The guitars, at the core of the music, have this great rock energy, but also give a lot of space to the other instruments. The bass and drum have this great complicity, and supports the songs with great mastery while staying in the back. The vocals, high and clean, are a gifted trademark of Loviatar, something many heavy and doom bands will envy.

On the other side, there is something I personally find clumsy with the pace of this EP. While the two original songs are excellent, they are accompanied by a cover of Leonard Cohen's "The Partisan". This is a good and interesting rendering, but from an outside perspective I'm questioning its place on the EP: given it has a total of only 11 minutes, and given that the first track is fast and the second is slow, it feels unnecessary to have a third song that brings a completely different direction. All in all, this may not be a big deal since all songs are good and will probably blend in, in the long run, with Loviatar's future discography.

With Widow's Flame, Loviatar is staying very close to what it offered us on Eternal Sons. They added a second guitar player, but so far it has more impact on the live aspect than anything else. Two new songs is not a lot when they are of average lenght, and this EP can't be considered as a landmark or a statement, but it is useful to generate an interest from the local scene.

I'll definitely keep an eye open to see what brings the third EP.

www.loviatardoom.com
http://loviatar.bandcamp.com/

Milanku - Pris à la gorge

MILANKU - Pris à la gorge
2012
D7I Records / Tokyo Jupiter Records / Replenish Records

Milanku is a four-piece band from Montreal. They started in 2006 and released a first album in 2008, Convalescence. More recently, they came out with their second opus, Pris à la gorge. I thought about writing a few words here not only because it's a great album, but also because it will be pressed this Spring on vinyl by none other than the excellent Washington label Replenish Records (Vestiges, Alda, Rituals). The artwork displayed here is the later version.

What is Milanku? The short answer would probably be a francophone post hardcore band. They deliver a quality product, both in terms of composition, texts and production, that helps them standing out immediately. Their music uses many post rock ingredients to express melancholy - especially the little guitar in the background and the minimalistic drumming, as found in "Hypomanie", "La nausée" or "Inhibition". At the same time, they have a clear hardcore and sludge edge, found in the harsh guitar-and-vocals attack of songs like "L'inclination", "Dopamine" or the wall of sound of "La Chute". This is highly melodic, but the melodies are built with repetition and layers of instruments, rather than being delivered easily from one single instrument. The arrangements found on Pris à la gorge are worth mentioning, as they are key to this feeling of being "grasped by the throat" (Pris à la gorge) and swallowed into darkness. For example, the very first song, "La Chute", starts with this very quiet atmosphere built by a clean guitar, a muffled background noise, and a few spoken words that express personal distress. Then, when the guitars kick in, we're completely submerged by a wave of intense melancholic pain. Further into the song, there is a quiet build-up that brings the listener closer into the music, before closing the trap and resuming the song with the same intensity as earlier.

The texts add something powerful to the melancholic feel of the music. Drenched in nostalgy, they either express pain in their hardcore delivery, or intimacy when spoken ("Antalgie", "La nausée").

The production is excellent and contributes to this masterwork. It is far from being raw, but it has a few dirty details left intentionally in the mix, for example: the end of certain chords (noticeable in the end of a few songs), the saturation of the vocals, or the granular distortion of the guitars. All the effects and the arrangements are perfectly blended, and the crystal clear drum-and-bass backbone leave all the space needed for the guitars to create these overwhelming atmospheres.

The first reference that comes to mind is Le Kraken. Not only the two bands started about the same time, but they also share the same vocalist, Guillaume Chamberland. While each other's music genre is not that far apart, there is a clear difference in direction between the two: Le Kraken's songs are shorter, more post-hardcore driven, while Milanku's songs are more complex, more melodic, and use a lot of clean guitars.

Impressive.

http://milanku.bandcamp.com
http://www.storenvy.com/stores/57506-desordre-ordonne
www.replenishrecords.com

Near Grey - Near Grey

NEAR GREY - Near Grey
2012
Indie

Big thick waves of monochromatic acrylic paint. The cover artwork for Montreal's Near Grey expresses perfectly what their music is about: something abstract, atmospheric, and voiceless. We enter the realm of sludge, we connect to an intangible country where musical textures counts more than any kind of groove. But there are no coldness, no evilness, and no negative weight. At the same time, we're nowhere near the light, the warm instruments or the happy radio vibe. The best descriptive could be "near grey", indeed.

The style has grown quite a bit since Neurosis and Isis made it popular. Near Grey plays a slower, instrumental version of sludge/post-metal, without getting too much into shoegaze or post-rock. They keep their distortion on as a background for their music, with only splashes of clean guitars here and there to give it some relief. A few feedbacks, a few keyboard atmosphere, and many guitar effects are additional tools used in the refined production.

This first offering of Near Grey is an EP. Three songs, ranging from 7 to 18 minutes, form the eponymous journey. Despite their duration, the songs never feel too long, nor repetitive; in fact, they progress naturally, taking a left turn on certain occasions, and they leave a lot of space for the guitars sound to die out. The pace of the album is an excellent breathing exercise, taking its time to reach various anonymous inscapes.

Recommended for fans of Three Steps to the Ocean, A Cold Dead Body, Omega Massif, Explosion in the Sky, etc.

http://neargrey.bandcamp.com/

Show of Bedlam - Roont

SHOW OF BEDLAM - Roont
2012
Choking Hazards Records

I admit I didn't know about Show of Bedlam (SoB) before I saw this "Doom Night" poster, and went to see them live at Cafe Chaos in Montreal. Now, that was a surprise, the band deliver the goods and are probably one of the best doom acts I've seen live in the City that Never Sleeps.

Right off the bat, SoB isn't your typical type of doom (or classical doom). This is a noisy branch bred in pain, born into hardcore, and likely raised around a few crossover acts such as Earache's rosters of the 90's. If we were to try finding SoB's parents, we would probably find it somewhere between the social violence of Today is the Day and the dark personal journey of Rollins Band. One closer comparative could be the mighty Jucifer, with whom it seems that SoB shared a split earlier.

Roont is a full lenght divided into four long tracks, and an interlude. It is one whole uneasy atmosphere, opening up a personal nightmare. Beyond the doom music itself, this direction is crafted by the female touch of singer and frontwoman Paulina Richards, who also participated in the brilliant Masseter alternative project. Throughout her relatively long texts, she is dragging us into an inscape journey where we witness dark interpersonal situations, and find a few shady characters; something also explored by other female-fronted bands such as Otep, Doll, or Social Revolver. With Paulina's very specific tone of voice and variations, Roont is like a black and white vintage horror movie, with a touch of purple despair.

SoB is a four-piece band: vocal, guitar, bass and drum. The tempo of the album is relatively slow, like a hearbeat pounding in your head, alone in the dark of an empty basement, waiting for your captor. There are all sorts of noises, loops and synth effects added to the instruments mentioned above, thus offering a rich backdrop to Roont. The guitar sound is dirty, and the bass - deep down the spectrum - is full of overdrive. The female vocals are saturated and textured with a deep reverb, giving them a nice ghoulish/horror movie texture.

On the cover, there is an appropriately depicted spooky abandoned wooden house, somewhere in a nameless town. On the back of the cover, we see a spiritual summoning session (likely taken from a black and white horror movie). On the inside, we find a 12'' piece of sparkled wax, purple and black.

Roont is definitely making my year's end list as one of the most pleasant discoveries, and probably as one of Choking Hazards Records' best releases to date.

http://showofbedlam.bandcamp.com/
http://chokinghazardrecords.blogspot.ca/

Le Kraken - Exil (EP)

LE KRAKEN - Exil
2012
D7i records/Vendetta Records

It has been almost three years since Le Kraken released their second release and first full lenght album, Exalt. While the music used the same common denominator as many sludge and crust bands, it was a welcoming variation: simple structures, short songs, and French lyrics. I was highly anticipating any follow up to it, and it came under the shape of a 5-songs, 17+ minutes 10'' EP.

At first, Exil sounds like more of the same cool-aid we drank earlier: punk-size songs (2 to 4 minutes average), guitar-oriented structures, atmospheric chords layered over a pounding drum, and a vocal pitch drenched into hardcore. However, after a few listen, we unearth something definitely fresh.

This EP is the opportunity to introduce a new line-up. Bassist Guillaume Chamberland has taken vocals duty, and a new guitar player, Jean-François Dussault Desgroseillers, joined, now forming a four-piece with drummer Louis Guillemette and guitarist Jean-Phillipe Marcil.

Exil is also an opportunity to introduce a new logo, something crucial for a band that has started to tour seriously and that is constantly expanding its audience.

So how does that translate into music? Opening track "Exubérance" kicks in with what we came to know (and like) about Le Kraken: contagious guitar riffs, clever drum patterns, and a range of vocals that makes the music quite accessible. Then, all of a sudden, the drapery falls, and we are left with some sort of Cult of Luna-esque melancholic guitar atmosphere. It is picked up by the other instruments, in a slow and almost doomy atmosphere, bringing the listener somewhere unexpected. "L'assault & l'esquive" displays a similar structure, i.e. riffs and drum patterns change mid-way through the song. Applied to their heavy-but-not-oppressive music, this technique makes the songs breathe, and suithes the mood perfectly. These two songs are followed by "Erratum", a short crusty snack that could have figured on any of Le Kraken's previous releases.

The band clearly crafted their art while sharing the stage with many other bands from the same genre. Centrepiece to the album, the excellent "Arbore essence" is something radically new for Le Kraken. In a progression of guitar textures and a wise alternation of drum patterns, the song brings echos of Alaskan or Textures, among others. Delightful.

Last, but not least, the Exil EP ends with the title track. With a focus on a strong chorus, this one captures the best of the album through variations of atmospheres and tempos, and offers one of the best texts the band has written to date. On that level, this time again all lyrics are sung in French and express personal reflections, or states of mind. The choice of words is better than your average band, but the construction is very raw, unpolished and unfinished, as a note to yourself in the corner of your university notebook.

Aside from the music, the Exil EP is housed in a stunning piece of art. The dramatic picture on the cover is the art of Alexander Mody, who is responsible for designing Vestiges' most striking landscape cover arts in the last years. There are two editions: black wax, and black haze/clear wax. Definitely worth purchasing on vinyl.

In conclusion, Exil is Le Kraken's first step into a new direction, one that is rooted into new alliances. It is laid on strong foundations, but rather than being limited by its past releases, the record tells us that the band is ready for venturing into new paths.

http://lekraken.bandcamp.com/album/exil
http://www.toysofdisharmony.com/

Haggatha - IV

HAGGATHA - IV
2012
Choking Hazards - Blind Date

Vancouver's Haggatha are back with another monster slab. Like its title suggests, this is the 4th release of the band, but only the 2nd full length. Last year, they offered us the excellent III, a 2-song, 8-minutes long 7". They also toured intensively, spreading their dirty sludge all across America and Europe alike. Beside touring and releasing albums, they've also spent time with other projects, as drummer Matt is also a new Bison B.C. member.

What is the result? Well, the Haggatha signature is still recognizable, there is still an Eyehategod influence, and still the same crushing, doomy tempo, with a saturated guitar distortion and minimal 'primal scream' vocals. However, rather than doing Haggatha II part II, they came out with a slightly different formula. On the production level, it's less muddy (especialy in terms of low frequency), and there seems to be a new hierarchy of instruments. On II, guitars were at the forefront of the music; on IV, it's the drum that prevails. In fact, this instrument seems to be leading all way through the new album. It hits a lot harder, and nails the sludgy grooves more closely than before.

The album starts with four songs of average length (between 3 and 6 minutes), and ends with a stunning 18-minutes mastodon. Side A of the vinyl (the four first songs) are more focused than before. They are of average tempo and very catchy. There are no huge variation of tempo (like III) or atmosphere (like II), just a sheer hit on the skull. A case in point, the opening riff of "Precession of the Equinox" easily sticks into your head, while "Codependence", with its lead guitar detour, is probably one of the best crafted song the band ever wrote.

On side B we find something unusual for Haggatha. They dared venturing on the path many doom bands took in recent years, and wrote a very long song, "Epoch". To make it epic and to make it stand out from the rest of their songs, the band very cleverly adopted a minimalistic approach. This works very well, while offering the album something fresh and different.

The artwork is also worthy of mention. Like the music, it bears the same Haggatha theme with the logo on the cover. This time, a bas-relief of it was created and placed in a variety of dirty, earthy textures. The pictures are used inside and outside the beautiful gatefold vinyl, while a very plain 16-pages booklet contains minimal information (10 pages are plain black), such as lyrics and credits.

Simply put, it is my favorite Haggatha album to date.

Get the album on mp3 and vinyl by following these links:
http://haggatha.bandcamp.com/album/haggatha-iv
http://chokinghazardrecords.blogspot.ca/