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| Artwork by Ben from Fange |
Once in a while it occurs that an album sweeps me off my feet upon first listen. And that’s what Fange’s EP Poisse did. The three piece band from Rennes/France (consisting of members of Huata, Brain Pyramid and Zalhietzli) formed in 2013. Poisse is their first release and came out in April 2014.
The album is a beautiful mess of noise and groove, crushing heavy riffs and ugly vocals clouded in distortion. Everything about it is excessive and extreme… fuzz, reverb, distortion, feedback, vocals, all piled up in layers creating a thick, heavy, dissonant, hellish chaos. Still there’s a deep and heavy groove to it, with bouncy riffs and rhythms strong enough to prevent the chaos from being boundless. Instead the groove provides depth, movement and direction (probably straight to hell) without taming the chaos but building an exciting tension between both.
The harsh aggressive vocals are quite low in the mix and get nearly drowned in the heavy riffs and noise that gives them a ghostlike quality. All the elements are set and balanced in a way to create and nourish an utterly dark, dangerous, depressive atmosphere. In the fifth track “...” the vocals are like some heavily distorted ritualistic chants or prayers, that are able to scare the shit out of you and conjure up even the filthiest and ugliest beasts and demons hell has to offer.
The bracing recklessness and boldness with which Fange unleash their utterly raw and brutal energy in a sweet mix of sludge, HC and noise is simply compelling. Poisse is a 30 minute face melting jarring outrage, abrasive, intense and highly addictive.
[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]