Aorlhac - Pierres brûlées (2021)

One of the most textured and engaging acts of the Medieval black metal scene coming largely from France, Aorlhac hit a new summit with their 2018 album L'esprit des vents, which I admit to listening the fuck out of in the ensuing years. There was a natural electricity to experience what they might put out next, and having spun Pierres brûlées for about a month now, I'm happy to say it's a worthwhile successor, even if it does not quite blow me away or evolve their sound nearly as much as they'd obviously done in the midst of that 2010-2018 period. It might not seek such soaring heights, but it's a damned dense, reliable effort which can once again transport the listener through its interpretation of traditional black metal techniques centuries in to the past and make the themes and style fit together seamlessly.

The style is heavily characterized by steadily blasting tracks with highly melodic arrangements of rhythm guitar, which are frankly a better fit for the lyrical themes and exploration of history than the more evil and diabolic passages we tend to equate with the genre; and this is an exception I tend to take when a band can create such a formidable gestalt of concept and style. There's a a never-ending cycle of desperation created through the riffing, and while a lot of the note progressions are splayed out in patterns that can be somewhat predictable within the niche, they just work so wonderfully alongside the blend of howled clean vocals and dirtier rasps. This record is like a flood of emotions from someone dying of a sword wound, a windy ascension of pain and majesty which goes so fast that it takes flight. That's not to say that the band doesn't have its moments where they break down into a more moderate pace with lots of kick drums and darker, harsher vocals, but it's this high temp that they will generally be associated with. I do really appreciate when they try more rhythmic variation, like the eerie intro to "Nos hameaux désespérés", and I feel the acoustic material like the "Averses sur Peyre-Arse" interlude is damn near mandatory to help break up the faster flow from any monotony.

Aorhlac might still not reach the top tier of distinct, musically adventurous French black metal acts like Deathspell Omega, Blut Aus Nord or the ever controversial Peste Noire, but there's certainly an identity and fluidity of musical expression here which solidifies them as one of the contenders in that scene, and of all the strains of metal music I feel like this is just the best married to the idea of exploring the past. I'll not lie and say that this trio couldn't use a little more variation, perhaps even more acoustics or folksy passages to help flesh out the authenticity of their themes, but they are nonetheless a fantastic band and this one sits just below L'esprit des vents in overall strength.

Verdict: Win [8.5/10]

https://aorlhac.bandcamp.com/

Ossuaire/Ysengrin/Aorlhac/Darkenhöld - La Maisniee du Maufe - A Tribute to the Dark Ages (2011)

I'm years late checking out this four-way split, but as a fan of three of the four French bands participating on my way into it, I figured it was just about mandatory. The common thread running through the creators here, apart from the shared nationality, is that they all have some devotion among their own projects to atavism, diving into the distant past for lyrical and musical inspiration, and I feel this micro scene, more prevalent in Europe than my own USA, offers a cool counterbalance to the more modernized strains of black or death metal which head off towards more progressive ideals. I also thought the layout for the split album was interesting: at about 31 minutes, three of the four bands all feature an instrumental intro or outro along with a harder, metallic track.

All three of these instrumentals consist of a clean guitar component, with Aorlhac's album opener being the most purely rustic and folksy, pure acoustic bliss. Darkenhöld's is a little more dingy and tribal, with some ambient sounds hovering just at the crest of the guitars. The finale of the split, Ysengrin's "Herege", features some electric guitar along with the acoustic, and cedes into a more funereal synth as it comes to its close. All three of these pieces were very well done, highlights of the recording, and for their small differences flow together rather well with one another and the slightly divergent styles of the bands. Fortunately, just about everything else on offer is also worthwhile, from Aorlhac's savage, riffy "Les charognards et la Catin", to Darkenhöld's mid-paced, evil piece and fittlingly titled "Eerie Plain at Dawn", to Ysengrin's morbid amalgamation of death, doom, heavy and black metal "La Procession Noire" with its more atmospheric, guttural vocals and weird, snaking riffs and leads. Each of these tunes is quite fluid with what the band was releasing individually at the time, and like a lot of their material easy for the Dark Age headbanger trapped in the 21st century to lose oneself in.

Ossuaire was new to me, but their sole track also seems like a microcosm of what their peers had on exhibition, with some acoustic guitars that transmute into some chunky, dissonant black/death metal with, yet again, guttural vocals rather than the black rasps that you'll hear from the first two bands on the split. I did think this tune was okay, but perhaps my own issue was the dingy, dissonant tones and overall production once the heavier sections kicked in stood out a little much from the rest. Some of the style here reminded me a lot of another French band, Suppuration, which is cool, and I did like this enough that I'll track down their 2010 full-length Mortes Fables at some point to check it out, but I'd say of any of the selections for this release, it was probably the one I would have cut out to make the rest flow a little more smoothly. That aside, and its a minor gripe at best, La Maisniee du Maufe is a very cool release which delights for much of its runtime. France has by far one of the best scenes in all black metal these years, and even though the bands included on this would be considered second or third 'tier', they are all well worth hearing, following and supporting.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://www.facebook.com/ysengrin.official/
https://www.facebook.com/Aorlhac
https://www.facebook.com/Darkenhold/

Aorlhac - L'esprit des vents (2018)

Had L'esprit des vents been released during the heights of the second wave boom in the mid-90s, it would no doubt be heralded as one of the all time classics of the black metal genre, riding high on its superb production, incredible musicianship, contrasts of savage aggression and melody, glorious/Medieval atmosphere and the absolute sense of pride and desperation created by the vocalist known here as Spellbound. As atmospheric as it is traditional in terms of how it implements the riffing structures of its medium, this is a case of 7-8 years absence being put to great use, an extremely well rounded recording that rarely if ever falters across its robust hour of material, and provides just enough glinting acoustic segues and variation to smooth the edges of redundancy that might have otherwise crept in had it been on full blast for the sum of its playlength.

I had actually heard both of Aorhlac's prior albums, and come away with a positive impression of the 2010 sophomore La cite des vents, but when this new album arrived through Les Acteurs de l'Ombre Productions, I was immediately taken in by the beautiful, gloomy cover art and packaging. Once I had actually cranked the sucker I was just stunned by how much the group had improved during its years away from being a blip on the underground radar. Unlike their more avantgarde, unusual countrymen like Blut Aus Nord or Peste Noire, this trio approaches the style with a conventional aesthetic...effortless, furious blasting comprises a great deal of the bedrock, and built upon that are flurries of chords and tremolo picked melodies, that while not unique, breathe some fresh air into a practice once perfected by Scandinavian acts, particularly the Swedish upstarts of that 90s period. These are not legion, however, since they'll weave in more evil sounding patterns, some licks even bordering on a blackened thrash. At the same time, they'll go even further down the melodic path than many of their forebears, with some blazing harmonies reminiscent of classic Maiden or Omen, paired up really well with the harsher sequences so that they never really cross into the blackened heavy metal category; they just extract this one technique and work wonders with it.

The rhythm tones are superb, with just enough grain to prevent the record from studio sterility, while the melodies bleed well and clear into their respective speakers. But rising above all that is the vocal performance, which just howls, rasps and soars off across the battlements of instrumentation like a bird of prey closing in on its kill. If you're familiar with French and Quebecois acts, Forteresse for example, you'll know there's a lot of passion inherent to how the lyrics are delivered in the native tongue, but here they are working overtime, perfectly placed, barked and bleated out over every single measure of the music on which they appear. The drums are frenzied, splashy, pregnant with fills wherever they can be inserted to thwart any chance of the errant ear becoming bored with what it's hearing...truly second nature when the record is ripping away, but just as formidable when they lapse into some mid-paced, majestic sweep where the album transforms into this atavistic mead hall drink-off, sans all the fruity, dweeby 21st Century Renaissance horseshit that half the bands wielding the 'pagan metal' brand step in half the time they step in a recording booth.

What a rush. A rush that makes me feel like I should be standing in a field five to fifteen centuries ago, a peasant smeared with blood and dirt, whether from killing or farming, not knowing if I'll starve by the next morning or be stabbed to death by a roadside campfire. But damn proud to be there either way.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

https://www.facebook.com/Aorlhac