Monarque/Forteresse/Csejthe/Chasse-Galerie - Légendes (2014)

I knew I was going to like this 4-way split about 30 seconds into the first tune, Forteresse's "Wendigo", which just completely takes charge and kicks ass far more than I'm accustomed to with their music. It's proud, melodic and endowed with at least two of the catchiest riffs I've heard them write, while still maintaining that nearly hypnotic style they're known for, only hitting a lot faster and harder to drive home that atmosphere. But even before that, the idea behind Légendes seemed exhilataring... Four Quebecois black metal acts, four 'legendary' themes from their homeland, Sepulchral Productions. Most of you reading this have likely opened your checkbooks and are no longer reading what I have to say, but just in case you lie on the fence, I'll endeavor to continue...

The quality doesn't end with Forteresse, for next I was introduced to Chasse-Galerie, the one band here I had no prior experience with, whose very name is derived from a folktale. I don't exactly know how a lot of their other records sound, but here the style plugs in seamlessly where the first tune left off with "La Boies de Belles", a fit accompaniment for some French-Canadian Renaissance Faire, mid-paced triumphant black metal which plays out like a hybrid of Moonspell's classic "Alma Mater" and late 80s Bathory. Dirty and oppressive in terms of production, but nevertheless magnificent, with textured tremolo picked guitars and a pumping, melodic bass-line that stands out below the grotesque, growled ravings of Blanc Feu. A good song, flush with its predecessor and will prompt me to track down their older efforts. That said, the third offering, Monarque's "La Griffe du Diable" is perhaps the best of the lot, a raw, melancholic, odious epic which falls right in line with the A-side tunes, only harsher and more sinister via the raunchy rasping. An excellent song, an excellent band, perhaps the one thing I could find lacking is that there's simply not much unique about it, but we're beyond that with really any black metal in the 21st century.

Another wonderful track closes out the release courtesy of Csejthe. "Murmurs Nocturnes" is a mildly more dense and emotional mirror to the prior material in that it offers the same wistful tremolo picked melodies and obscure beauties, only the use of the synth in there makes it 'prettier' perhaps. If you experienced their last disc Réminiscence on Eisenwalde Tonschmiede, you'll be hooked in short order, as the dreamy darkness there is present in spades. But perhaps even more impressive than any one song is just how fluid Légendes flows as a whole...there clearly seemed to be some collaboration here, interaction between the four acts, so that the split seems incredibly coherent and consistent beyond the 'We're in the same ballpark musically, or pen pals, so let's do a split' mentality' that I usually come across. There's no need for the songs to stand alone and compete with one another, because they work in unison as a 20+ excursion into the imaginations of their forefathers, a smooth thematic blend that culminates in continuity for the aesthetic rampage Sepulchral Productions has been on lately, following up the latest Gris, Sombres Forêts, and Neige Éternelle records with honour, grandiloquence, and style. Merci to that.

Verdict: Win [8.5/10]

https://www.facebook.com/monarqueqc?ref=ts
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Forteresse/312227428819928
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Csejthe/177551675679644
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chasse-Galerie/115247631868318

Neige et Noirceur - Gouffre Onirique et Abîmes Cosmiques (2014)

Like fellow Quebec luminaries Forteresse, Gris and Sombres Forêts, Neige et Noirceur inspires a little patience from the listener, which is basically a requisite if Spiritus' music is going to resonate whatsoever. While I don't hold his past works in the same high regard as a few of those others I just mentioned, what I can say for this project is just how much more it exudes a sort of lingering darkness than many of his peers. I've never heard a record by the guy that I haven't liked, and the same can be said for Gouffre Onirique et Abîmes Cosmiques, which offers a contrast of measured, melodic 90s black metal reminiscent of a lot of Swedish or Norse second stringers, with some passages that rely more on ambiance, or some drawn-out, doom-like riffing configurations.

For the most part, though, I feel in listening to this as though I've warped back to around 1996 when the production on black metal records was still quite dark and distant but perfectly audible without overbearing levels of polish. The guitars here, largely driven by tremolo picked melodies over driving programmed kicks, wouldn't be out of place on the first Old Man's Child record or perhaps a better produced Nattens Madrigal, plus a little swagger redolent of Borknagar or older Marduk. But with this album, they're woven into this massive, nearly 60 minute tapestry of triumph and torment, given a lot of space to breathe in, and if you can slow your heart to keep pace with the stuff it's quite effective. Personally I was really happy with the ambient components, too, like the three-part "La Cavern de Glace" sequence which grows progressively more evil on the third movement, when dark chants and droning guitars arrive in a morbid conjunction. Spiritus' is great at coming up with these lower-fi dungeon synth moments where everything seems as if its cast through a black & white lens of creepiness, and I almost regretted that this wasn't just the dominant feature of the whole album...

I say that, because no matter how solidly plotted and well dressed the standard metallic songs are with their percussive backdrops and Spiritus' vile, snarled black metal rasping, many of the riffing progressions here do occasionally border on excessively repetitive and predictable in nature. There is some variation to pacing and he does throw a few more twisted, dissonant curve balls, just enough that it's impossible to write any one song off here, but there are certainly moments where the drifting nature of the songwriting grows a fraction more dull than I might have hoped. It's persistently dark, leering and soul-leeching, but ultimately a handful more unique and compelling riff selections would have made a great difference. However, on the whole I still must say I got 'into' Gouffre Onirique et Abîmes Cosmiques. It's not quite so profound as several of the other Sepulchral Productions releases I covered in recent months, but whenever I see the name Neige et Noirceur I certainly want to listen to what he's written, and am far from disappointed with this, ranking it somewhere between La seigneurie des loups (2010) and Hymnes de la montagne Noire (2012) in sum quality.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]

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

Beast Within - Adversity/Servitude 7" (2014)

The simplicity of expression on this 7" sadly tends to work against it, by which I'm referring to the extremely basic riffing concoctions that Beast Within bring to the fore. It's not necessarily that the technique is one I don't welcome, and these guys make the most of the few chords they muster, but that, even at around 4 minutes, these songs went on too long with too little of import happening. This is a group composed of fellas from various other acts, including Thesyre, who had a similar penchant for minimalist aggression, but it seems almost all the stress here went onto the meaty production of the guitars and there's just no sense of intricacy whatsoever, coupled with nothing interesting in the guitars beyond just their burly sincerity.

The saving grace is probably the vocalist, who has a really strong, angry presence with just enough nastiness, reminding me of Martin Walkyier (Sabbat) if he were a little less glib of tongue and sustained all his lines, or maybe a little bit of James Hetfield's style if he had a different tone. Riffing is pretty clearly inspired by the mighty Celtic Frost of olde, but this is really only a superficiality because the chords seem more direct than the weirder, morbid choices of the Swiss legends. Drawn out, repetitive grooves and a hint of chugging, with no decent leads or atmospheres anywhere in sight. Just a slowish to mid paced drudging that cocks back its fist, winds up a punch, delivers the strike and then the remainder of the songs are just follow-through on that one brutal motion. Drums are deliberately simple, semi-crashing beats and the bass-lines are just swarthy doppelgangers of the rhythm chords. It could not have taken Beast Within a long time to come up with these, and alas that straightforwardness juts doesn't offer enough nuance or detail to spur compulsion for more than a handful of cursory listens...

It's not exactly horrible or anything, I just came away with wanting more. More structure, more of a reason to care. I do like the vocalist Eric Syre's approach, and I think with a more varied musical backdrop he could change his own pitches a little and veer away from the monotony that this release embodies, but that said, I do think there are a lot of folks who might appreciate the sheer, heart-on-a-sleeve anger exuded from the music until it very quickly becomes redundant. Hopefully this short-form release is a test run, so they can get some feedback and offer something a little more detailed. This sort of doom/thrash hybrid is certainly an uncommon one, and there's a lot of room for someone to arrive and exert a little dominance. I'd prefer to hear Syre over some more monolithic, descending, dreadful doom riffs than these which just sort of crawl along with trite rockish riff patterns.

Verdict: Indifference [5/10]

Sombres Forêts - La Mort du Soleil (2013)

Continuing Sepulchral Productions' gold rush of 2013 is the third full length effort from Quebec's Sombres Forêts ('Dark Forests'), not to be mistaken for Calgary's Dark Forest, which performs more of a pagan, structured form of black metal. But don't let that statement mislead you into thinking that La Mort du Soleil is somehow loose at the seams, for this is an extremely atmospheric experience which revels in its ambient textures just as much as its harsher content. Equal parts ghastly and gentle, Annatar's writing really gives the cover artwork some context, because the listener is made to feel as if he/she is deep at sea on some battered old vessel, where periods of tranquil, sun-flecked skies are ruptured by torrential rains and choppy, terrifying waves. Not the sort of record you'd seek out if you just wanted something sinister to sear your face off, but if you've got the better part of an hour to kill by the docks with a bottle of your favorite poison and a whole lotta problems weighing in on your mind, well this is sort of like a surreal soundtrack to Old Man of the Sea if it had been penned by Varg Vikernes and not Hemingway...

Lots of pianos, wistful and dreamy acoustic guitars, ambient feeds and varied vocal arrangements strewn about its seascape; an ocean of heirlooms and objects, each connected to some sorrow or regret, cast out to drown but never fully submerged. From the simplest pieces, like "Effrondrement" which is more or less a rolling piano piece with some slightly creepy, distant vocal harmonies; to the more calamitous epics such as "Brumes" or "La Disparition", Annatar is nothing if not tonally passive/aggressive. Ebb and flow, low to high tide and back again, you haven't always got a lot of warning before the raw, abrasive guitars drench the scene with a tone quite familiar to the fans of depressive or suicidal hemisphere of black metal. We're not talking full-bodied, complex riffing patterns, or even rhythm progressions that would stand to scrutiny if separated from everything else, but more of a sizzling accompaniment that erupts almost like a post rock swell, when the emotional floodgates are torn from their hinges. In this, it's not entirely different than Annatar's Miserere Luminis collaborators Gris on their new double-album, but on the other hand, the acoustic guitars at least are a bit more on the subtle side (like in "L'Éther), not meant to shine entirely by themselves.

Drumming patterns range from the tribal and meditative (like the beautiful bridge in "La Disparition") to splashy explosions during the heavier sections, but while the snare pops straight through, the balance between the vocals and other instruments is such that I often felt like some of the cymbals were reduced to a bit of a hiss when the guitars are crashing along. Not an issue where the music becomes less dense and cacophonous, though. Bass guitar lines are pretty simple and often seem to disappear altogether, but they definitely cultivate a lowly grooving blackgaze sensation when they matter the most ("Étrangleurs de Soleils") and this is not the sort of sound where it's often an important component. As for Annatar's vocals, I cannot say that they're the most unique sort of rasp out there; he delivers a lot of sustained lines that fit the sheer expansiveness of the music, but you might not be able to always pick him out of a lineup of similar snarlers. To make up for that, though, La Mort du Soleil is heavily saturated with ethereal, dreary or even ringing clean vocals which are often so subtly infused to the other instruments that you feel like that forsaken sailor I hinted at earlier; slowly losing your grip on reality. Are those the voices of angels as you approach the afterlife? Sirens singing you into the depths and their bellies? Or rescuers over the next angry wave-crest...

...whatever the answer, they really contribute so much to the impression Sombres Forêts leaves upon your spirit, and similar to Gris, show an enhanced sense of composition which does not solely hinge on riffing alone. Annatar is a composer first, and though he chooses to express himself partly through the grim savagery of the black metal medium, he is by no means restricted to its parameters. Or, rather, he reminds us that there ARE no parameters, no boundaries, and to leave such follies drowning behind you. You cannot defy conformity through conformity, after all, and that's why it's so great to hear artists like these in the Quebecois scene who create such texture-heavy musical 'retreats' into the wilderness. La Mort du Soleil is further evidence that this particular scene is helping to lead the charge away from banality into rapture, and I, for one, enjoyed it even more than Annatar's previous outings with this project. Highly recommended to fans of Gris, Forteresse, Neige et Noirceur, Sorcier des Glaces, and Lustre, though for most of those it goes without saying.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

http://sombresforets.blogspot.com/

Gris - À l'Âme Enflammée, l'Äme Constellée... (2013)

2007's Il Était une Forêt... was an album recommended to me about a dozen times, by more than one person who considered it the greatest metal recording of that particular year. But when I at last got around to hearing it I wasn't too impressed beyond that gorgeous, dirty guitar tone balanced upon the precipice between scintillating beauty and the suicidal void. At 60 minutes, there were definitely some opportunities to get lost, as well as bored, but Gris is nothing if not ambitious, so you have to take it all in stride. That ambition continues through their long anticipated follow-up, À l'Âme Enflammée, l'Äme Constellée..., which is a rather stunning turn of events towards a more richly produced palette of glimmering acoustics, uplifting folk/world music and better produced metal progressions that retain their black metal bleakness but lack the fuzz of the debut. Normally, that might prove a turnoff, since I enjoy some grit in my suffering, but with two discs and 80 minutes of material, I have to admit that this is an adventurous sophomore I easily prefer to its predecessor...

I enjoy an album where the acoustic/folk guitar sequences actually feel 'cared about', as if a great amount of effort were placed in their inception and they're not just being paraded about as a window dressing for the band's eclectic self-image, and this is clearly one of those places. Each of these compositions, whether the brighter and captivating intro to the first disc "L'Aube" or the more brooding, minimalistic "Sem" interlude, or even their placement in the longer 11+ minute centerpiece tracks, has been meticulously carved out of the wood, fields and waters of the wilderness surrounding the band, and fashioned into sometime moody or downright beautiful. Further string sections inebriate the tracks with the range and atmosphere of a fully staffed orchestra, giving the listener an impression he or she is at the symphony hall watching a conductor more than listening through a metal record, and the commonly implemented, cleaner, feminine crooning is wisely relegated to pure atmosphere, like a steady breeze above the trees that often intersects with the revelatory rush of the turbulent river waters below. In terms of pure arrangement, this is wonderful...

But À l'Âme Enflammée, l'Äme Constellée... is, after all, a metal record, and its authors pull their heads out of the clouds often enough to provide is with a crushing range of bright, searing chord progressions that intertwine fairly seamlessly with all of the vocals, drums and other instrumentation. To prove this isn't just chamber music for your grandparents, the black rasps here are drawn and quartered out to unpredictable levels of suffering, which creates an immediately bewildering contrast when they segue into some classical passage. Gris is meting out raw fucking emotion here, not the usual sort of black metal frontmanship where the inflection feels like it's monotonously being read from a page. No, Icare seems to just be staring at something and howling his lungs out in Romantic desperation, and it translates into a far less predictable performance which is instantly more compelling to experience. There are admittedly some points at which this becomes almost caricature, but that's really the point. It is only vaguely scripted agony, and he is going to wrench whatever he can out of that fleshy frame.

Are the metal components as richly realized as their surrounding arrangements? No, especially in a tune like "Dil" where the chord progressions are often rather threadbare and uninteresting, but the very fact of their existence still helps to support the record's passive/aggressive nature. The real exhilaration will almost always be felt around these parts, but it helps ground off all those electric chills you feel from the orchestration. The drums, on the other hand, are quite passionate and inspired, especially the fills in spots like "Seizième prière" where they pick up alongside the heavier chords. It's almost like the conglomeration of a rustic tribal drum circle from the Great White North fused together into a single spirit. Go forth, great arbiter of cadence! Bass lines are likewise really nice here, with a thick and plugging tone that often enough swerves away from the rhythm guitar notation to groove along with the confidence of a modern progressive rocker. But sadly the distorted guitars, while not disposable by any means, are perhaps the least compelling aspect of the music. Important in placement, to suffuse the songs with a heavy sadness, yet not incredibly melodic.

Ultimately, though, any interstices between the rapturous emotional release of Gris' ideas are more than made up for when the solemn or ethereal clean vocals, the orchestration, the percussion and the riffing all comes together in tidal bombast. It's a record of 'moments', but those are evenly balanced between its most intense crossroads and unassuming, rural breaks in the action. The interaction between shorter and longer tracks doesn't impede this Quebecois flow of creativity nearly as much as I thought it might when I first looked over the playlist. It's all consistent, at times beautiful, and at times haunting. Even where I might have become mildly bored, I can't deny that this duo put an enormous amount of care and love into what they were doing. Grandiose, but genuine. Some fans might rue the lack of grimier, wrist-cutting guitars as the dominant drive in the music, but if this was the trade-off, then I'll take it. Perfect it is not, but worth owning it most definitely is. Magnificent, really, and while it's a bit different from the other great Quebec recordings I've heard lately off Sepulchral Productions (Neige Éternelle, Monarque, etc), À l'Âme Enflammée, l'Äme Constellée... has further convinced me that this scene is about to reach critical mass... Do continue!

Verdict: Win [8.75/10]

http://musique-grise.blogspot.com/

Neige Éternelle - Neige Éternelle (2013)

Neige Éternelle is a Quebecois black metal act which seeks a dialing back of the clock's hands to both the attitude and aural aesthetics of the earlier second wave black metal of the early 90s, characterized through a
sense of reductionism in production values that is responsible for both its stylistic parameters and icy, effective atmosphere. The band is well aware that that its intentions not to expand or complicate its medium, and thus settles directly into a sinister, distant and surprisingly elegant set of songs which I've found rather difficult to stop listening through. Having gotten a number of good promos via Montréal Sepulchral Productions lately, I can say that with no uncertainty that this was my favorite, and it scratches an itch I get every few years for the basest of black metal, steaming its open wounds out into a frost-tinged eveningscape, silent but for the howling of winds and wolves.

Naturally, my first comparison would be to Darkthrone's A Blaze in the Northern Sky, largely because it was the first album I owned to successfully dole out such an uncompromising, frigid atmosphere, but the marginally more melodic underpinnings inherent in Neige Éternelle's chord choices are actually more in league with Under a Funeral Moon or Transilvanian Hunger, De Mysteriis dom Sathanas or the first few Burzum outings. A melancholy captured in shards of ice, kept in a distant din beneath the drumming and the sustain of the vocalist's substantial rasp, like you were hearing it all performed half way across a frozen lake from an unheated cabin on the shore. The actual structure of the chord progressions is nothing novel, but doesn't really need to be...its nuance is strictly in its ability to cling to the listener's psyche like the uncertainty of surviving a blizzard in a primitive shelter void of modern amenities. To their credit, though, they mete out a fairly varied palette of riffing techniques which help this from falling into the quicksand of ceaseless repetition; "Comme une charogne" operates off eerie, mid-paced chords with a spiky emphasis on the higher notes in their respective chords, while "Fier patriote" incorporates some moody speed/thrash metal picking, or "L'appel de la mort" is your full-on, desperate blasterpiece.

But, while I enjoyed the writing, it's really the production that sold me on this eponymous debut, helped in part because I received this during the opening notes of summer, when the New England heat begins to swelter to a degree that I have simply never found comfortable (though I've no doubt many would consider it 'mild' at worst). All the instruments are audible, but never 'up front', if that makes any sense. The snares and crash along like an old Bathory disc, the double kick lines often feel like a bunch of rowdy fans thundering the bleachers during a hockey match, and the vocal sneer is constantly raving like someone stabbed and isolated in the woods, whose pleas may or may not reach the neighboring village. Granted, the actual timbre of the rasp is admittedly monotonous, but here that serves only to help distinguish the rhythm guitars and the sordid plunk of the drier bass guitar tone propelling alongside them. Feedback and subtle storm atmospheres greatly influence the direction of the music, as in the intro to "Pluie de couteaux", in which some dirty 'clean' patterns set up a dreamlike precipitation that really lives up to the band's name.

Ultimately, Neige Éternelle was an exhilarating 40-minute indoctrination into a genuine realm of suffering that I so rarely experience of late, perhaps due to some jadedness with a lot of the derivative works fielded in this niche that are ineffective at placing both production and compositional skills in proper context. This is raw, fundamental, wholly convincing black metal whose only 'crutch' might be seen its lack of originality, only not to the majority of those who are likely to invest in this. I thankfully felt my fingers and toes turning blue as I did with Anguished of Finland's debut or Atra's Death Coven, and the record struck me as a solid summer curative to help deal with the disgusting sweat on my forehead and limbs. After all, as Leonard Jeffries Jr. once reminded us, I'm one of those 'ice people', so I've somewhat of a bias for music that makes me feel so good by feeling pale and awful. Neige Éternelle does exactly that, and so I've got no choice but to recommend it to all the craven, despotic and the desperate who might crawl out from their crypts and rocks to acquire it. A great debut!

Verdict: Win [8.75/10]

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Neige-%C3%89ternelle/201509126585335

Monarque - Lys Noir (2013)

Production was one of the personal selling points of Monarque's sophomore full-length Ad Nauseam (an expanded demo rerecording), and it's also proven a forte for Lys Noir, an effort which streamlines the Quebecois act's sound into a flood of wretched, resonant emotion. I admit to not paying much attention to the intermittent series of EPs and splits that vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Monarque has released since that 2009 offering, but upon receipt of this new album, I instantly recounted the cover artwork for that last record, and was excited to hear the developments in his compositional skills and atmospheric flourishes he might have brought over from some of his other projects (like Déliquescence). Admittedly, my expectations were met, if not entirely exceeded. Lys Noir lacks the benefit of that initial impression that so engrossed me those several years back, but it's a textured, competent, consistent rush of agony and ecstasy nonetheless.

Though it's artistic lineage hearkens back to 2nd wave Norwegian classics like De Mysteriis dom Sathanas, In the Nightside Eclipse and Transilvanian Hunger, Monarque actually conjures up comparisons to recent fare from Finland's Sargeist or Sweden's Arckanum in that it implements deceptively simple tremolo picking progressions that cultivate a breadth of depth, sorrow and glory, like a last, desperate, suicidal charge into the afterlife. But the differences here are in the atmospheric dressings like the organs that roil across the landscape of the rhythm guitars to create a more fulfilling, 'classy' sense of aggression, a cultured and musical wall of force. If I were to break down a lot of the specific riffing patterns, they'd not be too impressive on their own merits, but if placed into the context of Bardunor's rapturous blasting patterns, simmering melodies of both the guitar and the organs, and Monarque's substantial, resonant rasping, it's difficult not to be overrun by the sheer weight, syncopation and momentum of the thing. Granted, the blasting does become a trifle monotonous, as it will in most records that rely too heavily upon pure speed over tempo variation, but at the same time, Lys Noir might not be so effective without such a sense of unfiltered, tempestuous exposition.

It's not all rampant force, of course, and there are segues in which clean guitars and chill ambiance take over, deep in "L'Appel de La Nuit" or dominant through the beautiful interlude dubbed "Solitude", which was one of the most inspiring points of the entire album. The closer, "Comme Les Vers; Sous la bannière du Lys noir" also takes a mildly different approach with flowing, slower chords reminiscent of late 80s Bathory that shift into some beautiful, mesmeric and simple tremolo picked patterns. Lys Noir also serves as a tasteful pseudo celebration of Quebec black metal, not only by featuring Sébastien Robitaille of the esteemed Sorcier des Glaces on "Comme Les Vers", but also a cover of Frozen Shadows' "Au Seuil des Ténèbres" from their 1999 debut Dans les Bras des Immortels, a bit of a cult classic for this scene, and flush with the originals if a fraction more savage in disposition. Once again we experience this sense of unity, self-idenity and defiance  among the musicians that is also reflected in the Quebec culture as a whole, which is one of the reasons I admire the place and its people.

Tonally, Lys Noir was precisely what I was hoping for, with the abrasive, sustained rasping of Monarque taking command of the album's vaulted, starry ceiling, and an unapologetic, violent fluidity to the rhythm section. Bass and drums are still relegated to 'support staff' for the riffing, organ and vocal arrangements, which does inhibit the potential rhythmic variety of the album to an extent. Personally, I'd like to hear some more interesting fills or change-ups to round out the excellent accelerated segments of the songs, but I do realize that a lot of proponents for this style would beg to differ. However, when Monarque does slow down to breathe, it's quite transcendental, so you can understand why I'd like a stronger balance between the two dynamic poles. Ultimately, while it is hardly a novel or masterful exercise in its medium, Lys Noir is damned solid, a bullrush of stamping feet in the bleachers of a cosmic arena, while a thousand chalices of blood are toasted to the sky until they become crimson-stained stars. Wish fulfillment with a razor.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://www.facebook.com/monarqueqc?ref=ts

Beyond Creation - The Aura (2011)

This is the first full-length from the Québec metallers - I have been patiently awaiting for this ever since I had to manually rip their demo off of their MySpace since there were no actual copies anywhere else - and the wait has not been in vain. For the uninitiated, I would describe Beyond Creation as a more brutal Canadian Obscura.

What I Liked:
I'll start with the obvious elephant in the mix - Dominic "Forest" Lapointe. I would be lying if I didn't say that the bass tone on this album is insane - though in my defence Beyond Creation was my first exposure to his work that I enjoyed (I really enjoy Augury now though). Vocalist/guitarist Simon Girard is another new vocalist I am really digging (and mimicking), his vocal styling mix is really well done - I especially enjoy the near pig-squeals mixed in at times. The guitars by Girard and Kévin Chartré are on par with most popular tech death out there today - that is to say extremely tight and well done (and to a level I can only wish I could play though that's to be said of most tech death). The drumming by Guyot Begin-Benoit is relentless throughout the album, easily up to par with anything someone like John Longstreth (Origin, Gorguts) has recorded in my opinion.

What I Didn't Like:
I only have one small critique - I felt that the vocals from the three demo songs were a bit different since they were rerecorded and my initial reaction was that the original vocal style was a bit better - something I'm sure most people will not understand or care about.

This is an album I have seen in some circles become really popular, and as someone listening to these guys for awhile, I am extremely glad this debut is getting the word-of-mouth support it needs. The whole album is solid from start to finish, again and again I find myself lost listening to this on repeat - Montréal/Québec metal never ceases to amaze me.

Verdict: Epic Win [9.75/10]

http://www.myspace.com/beyondcreationofficial

Neige et Noirceur - La Seigneurie Des Loups (2010)

Like Forteresse, Neige et Noirceur ('Snow and Blackness') is another Quebecois band deeply immersed in its heritage, though the two have notably different sounds. Zifond is the sole member here, performing all of the instruments and the bitter vocals, and La Seigneurie Des Loups is the second full length offering, after last year's Crépuscule Hivernal sans Fin sur les Terres de la Guerre and a series of demos, singles and EPs. Mixing folk elements with thundering black metal in the vein of Norse acts like early Emperor, Satyricon, and Immortal, Zifond creates dark and bleak vistas which lyrically extract historical events from his homeland, and it's packaged with a lovely, poignant cover (first hundred or so copies come with a DVD packaging, so if you're obsessed with this Quebec scene, don't hesitate).

La Seigneurie Des Loups is certainly a dynamic offering, which works in its favor, as you can expect something mildly different around every corner. There are three notable centerpieces: the 13+ minute "Croix de feu Croix de fer", 16+ minute title track, and 11 minutes of "Les plained de Krolok", and these represent the bulk of the material, each a bold narrative that cycles through a number of styles and sequences that twist and turn through dark emotions. Of these, I'd have to award the title track with the prize, a wolfen epic that opens with doom-like certainty before tripping off into turbulent, raging darkness, with a more sparse, psychedelic infusion arriving around 12:00 into its course. "Les Plaines de Krolok" is likewise fascinating, though it's all cerebral ambiance with a bit of vocal sampling. I also enjoyed the brief folk interlude "1834", with some clean vocals and graceful acoustic guitars that, in a short time, manage to transport the listener straight back to the 19th century.

The album is not entirely even, but none of the songs are necessarily bad. I found "Croix de Feu Croix de Fer" to be extremely unusual, with weird electronic sounds and even a mouth harp intro, and the average length "Ancien Folklore Quebecois", which merges traditional uplifting folk shanty with a siege of black metal riffing, just felt too familiar. But neither of these quite submerged me into their aural tapestries like the rest. I find that the guitar riffs are occasionally lacking throughout. Adequately angry, and performed with a fluency, but rarely evoking a sequence of memorable notes that you don't feel you've heard before. Still, the overall effect of the compositions remains successful, and La Seigneurie Des Loups is not only worth a listen, but has served to pique my interest in exploring deeper the Quebec scene.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

http://www.myspace.com/neigeetnoirceur