Tour of Duty: France

LLN Ikon

France has always been a favorite of mine when it comes to black metal. The LLN acts such as Torgiest, Vlad Tepes, and Mütiilation (the only one to last) had their lo-fi charm and tried to combat the infamy of the Norwegian scene. Immediate successors such as Peste Noire and Celestia continued the raw and melodic style that's become such a go to for many acts around the world. Like those two mentioned, Mystic Forest brings about a huge dose of melody, but in a very classical and virtuoso style that's nearly unheard of in black metal. Diamatregon's forged themselves a bizarre path as their 2009 full length Crossroad is an homage of sorts to American blues (you won't really hear it in the music, but the album is a true grower and has such a great, raw, and dismally deep sound akin to the hardships Robert Johnson and the like sang about). Epheles had the aggression and straight ahead attack that some of those others lacked, but added a strong synth touch to the mix. Antaeus, like their namesake, were all about strength as their sound and nihilism has gone unmatched for quite sometime. Finally, there's Glorior Belli's who strangely enough also had a blues influenced album (Meet us at the Southern Sign) and have created a stable, polished style of black metal that's gotten wider distribution than most. 

This cover still baffles me. Note the dog in the foreground,  and his stupid face. The wheelchair is just a whole 'nother story.

Not included due to length and an overall lack of quality is Pensées Nocturnes whose track "Coups de Bleus" is a very faithful and well done marriage of black metal and blues. I'm just saying this because France has such a peculiar scene, from NSBM bands to shoegazers like Alcest to pioneers Deathspell Omega Blut Aus Nord and bands with a complete admiration for U.S. black southern music. There's a lot of other great acts, hope this is just a good jump off.

Download

1. Torgeist - "Devoted to Satan" - Devoted to Satan

2. Vlad Tepes - "Untitled" - Broullions I

3. Mütiilation - "Travels to Sadness, Hate & Depression" - Remains of a Ruined, Dead, Cursed Soul

4. Celestia - "Prisoner of a Morbid Cradle" - A Cave Full of Bats

5. Peste Noire - "Paysage Mauvais" - Folkfuck Colie

6. Mystic Forest - "Braver Les Ombres" - Welcome Back in the Forest

7. Antaeus - "Blood War III" - De Principii Evangelikum

8. Diamatregon - "Wine" - Crossroad

9. Epheles - "Les Siècles D'ignorance" - Souviens-Toi

10. Glorior Belli - "Manifesting the Raging Beast" - Manifesting the Raging Beast

Download

Forgotten Lore: Malicious Secrets

Whether it's the psychotic crap spasm that's their contribution to the excellent From the Entrails to the Dirt 4 way split, their buried EP Apostle of Him or their downright nasty demo from '99, Malicious Secrets were an absolute backdraft of black metal that played the game the way it wanted to. Their pinnacle being three tracks from the aforementioned French black metal love-fest 4 way, Malicous Secrets were always sure to keep an astounding freight train of energy going. At times the band sounds like a free-for-all, each instrument (and voice) fighting for dominance in the span of mere minutes; drums blasting, noodely leads crumbling apart and vocals just ranting on. If you've ever seen Jacob's Ladder, that hospital scene is the film equivalent of this band.

Part III: Send Me To Hell Day of Wine and Thorns

Their last track from the From the Entrails to the Dirt split.

Largely forgotten in the scope of things, Malicious Secrets were a short-lived project of Mutiilation brain baron Meyhna'ch, Tenebras of French weirdos Nuit Nore and most surprisingly, the best part of the band (the guitars) were the work of TND, some dude who played session bass in Celestia for the early part of their career (oh yeah, then there's some shlub who played bass with the great name X Daemon).

I guess true to their name, I've rarely- if ever- seen this band's name in any kind of discussion, review, or whatever else.It's a shame as this small body of work is so jagged, anxiety ridden and at times nonsensical in the best of ways (kinda like Black Flag when they just got noisy). The guitar playing and strange accents/syncopation of the drums are definite highlights and the main catalyst that drives you through meth frenzies like "Part I: Interior Crack Psycho Angel Bitch" (whatever the hell that means) or "Twisted Mental Void."


If you're familiar with related projects, such at Mutiilation, Nuit Noire or even fellow countrymen/splitmates Antaeus there's some similarities. Meyhna'ch's signature drawl is here, even though the drummer's from Nuit Noire, his style here really reminds me of the guy from Antaeus who tends to do these blast beats that fall apart in a fill at the end of each measure. If you're lucky enough to own From the Entrails to the Dirt, then good for you, but if you're not one of the elite few, be sure to get these tracks, as well as the whole split as it's a great showcase of a now aging French scene (Deathspell Omega's the only relevant band there, and they've made great strides since).

Now go and tell your friends.