By Kevin Page. French label, three French bands, each one different and odder than the next. Let's find out... Existing since 1994, this is Orakle's third full length album. They are labeled as atmospheric black metal, which I find strange. Maybe they were previously, but this new album is firmly in the avantgarde, progressive death metal-ish camp
By Kevin Page.
French label, three French bands, each one different and odder than the next. Let's find out...
 |
| Sculpture by Robert Le Lagade |
Existing since 1994, this is Orakle's third full length album. They are labeled as atmospheric black metal, which I find strange. Maybe they were previously, but this new album is firmly in the avantgarde, progressive death metal-ish camp (with maybe even a little experimental stuff thrown in for good measure). The vocals at times have that black metal vomit, so there's a hint of it here and there, Ultimately, you are going to find them more in line with Opeth and even Tool, than anything else. That might scare some people off, but don't let it, since they are not a clone by any stretch of the imagination. The strange tempos and time changes make sure to give this a character all it's own.
 |
| Artwork by Michael Yee |
Earth's Disease is the sophomore effort from this self proclaimed hypnotic dodecatonic black metal band. Yeah, I had to look up the term dodecatonic (which refers to the twelve note piano scale) and still don't understand what they mean. This is black metal, but like most things from France these days, it by no means follows a well established path. There's some proggy stuff going on no doubt, at times you can hear a Deathspell Omega guitar twang, yet its strange enough in its own fashion to stick its neck out. Julien Payan (guitars) and Marquis (bass) of funeral death/doom band, Ataraxie, are featured here on guitars and vocals, respectively. The vocals are thoroughly tortured and strained. There's also some old school Victorian horror movie sounding cello used to wonderful effect as well.
 |
| Artwork by Julie Gagne |
And for our final and most wonderfully weird entry, we have Pryapisme. These "genre by damned" chaps combine 8-bit gaming, world beats, jazz, island sounds, dance beats and orchestral pieces you'd hear on a movie soundtrack, into this non-disjointed hodgepodge. The band states this release is about space, cats, and house rent. It’s not a full-on metal assault by any means and much less "metal" than their previous album, Hyperblast Super Collider (which was a fabulous), but that doesn’t make it any less potent or interesting. No amount of me describing it will truly due it justice, You'll just have to give it a listen for yourself. And once your brain is fried, feel free to sit back and enjoy a complete classical re-orchestration of the EP as an included bonus.
[Check out more bands from Apathia Records on their free label sampler from 2013.]