NEIGE
ET NOIRCEUR
'Hymnes
de la Montaigne Noire'
(Sepulchral
Productions)
Neige
et Noirceur are yet another one of the many impressive bands
currently plying their trade in the burgeoning Quebecois black metal
scene, and finally get around to unleashing their latest opus
entitled 'Hymnes de la Montagne Noire', and if you thought
their previous efforts were cold then this will freeze you to your
very core. So Zifond is back, and appears to have slightly shifted to
focus this time around to a slightly heavier weighting on the metal
aspect of their brand of black metal and less on the droning ambience
yet still retaining a huge atmospheric presence that helps deliver
his style of minimalist, hypnotic black metal so seamlessly. Indeed
if there was a more suitable album this year to listen to just as
winter threatens its first ice laden advances on the landscape then
I’ve yet to hear it.
'Hymnes...'
contains five tracks of repetitive, atavistic black metal set
somewhere in between the Norwegian style of the early nineties and
the deathly cold standoffishness of ambience focused acts like
Paysage d’Hiver and Darkspace. Take the first track
“Hymne I”, the Norwegian influences are hugely apparent with its
raw swaggering gait reminiscent of early Gorgoroth, but break
this up with subtle use of synths and Zifond’s abrasive vocals and
sparse minimalist passages of ambience and and you have the basic
formula for the whole album. The riffing itself uses repetition to
great effect and bolstered by the incessant drumming hammers through
the effect of a perpetual blizzard grinding away at your very being.
Indeed ‘Snow and Blackness’ as their moniker translates couldn’t
really be more fitting.
Zifond’s
vocals alternate between are more atypical black metal rasp and
extremely sharp high pitched shriek, I suppose you could say in the
same vein as many artists from the ‘Suicidal Black Metal’ end of
things. “Hymne II” is much the same expect broken up by vast
swathes of atmosphere with some rather obscure guitar passages and
kicks back in with some impressive lead work before closing out with
an imposing, caustic dirge which again showcases the hypnotic use of
the riff work. “Hymne III” even finds some space to utilize some
nifty acoustic work which helps emphasize the change ups between
‘atmosphere’ and ‘metal’ and together with its sorrow laden
riffing and synth make sure by this point if you’re not set to deep
freeze you’re certainly on your way there.
“Hymne
IV” is the best track here, a beautiful windswept acoustic
introduction which eventually succumbs to a maelstrom of simple yet
effective fuzzed out guitar driven majesty. By the time we reach the
fifth track there’s not really much more to say I haven’t already
(disregarding the rather unremarkable cover tacked on at the end),
the only fault being the paper thin production. Simply put, 'Hymnes
de la Montagne Noire' is a brilliant release for anyone who
considers themselves a fan of atmospheric black metal. It’s complex
and hypnotic arrangements are colder than a polar bears ballsack, and
although you’ve heard it all before, hearing it again done this
well is ever so welcome. [8,5]
(Chris
Cowgill)
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