Review Summary: Two tracks of pure melancholy, a grievous atmosphere; yet another under-looked Canadian masterpiece.
Melancholy -
Mon Voyage Parmi Les Vivants summed up in one word.
Riviere Du Nord's demo is arguably one of the best atmospheric/depressive suicidal black metal tapes to ever exist. While one might think of mallcore bands such as Lifelover, or Happy Days when they read/hear the term depressive suicidal black metal, they are undoubtedly wrong, and deserve to be at least educated, but mostly shunned. Riviere Du Nord is true, lo-fi, down-tempo atmospheric black metal. From the minimalist guitar drone, to the slow paced, simplistic drumming; the tortured shrieks of a shattered ego, to the static, nostalgic production,
Mon Voyage Parmi Les Vivants is ultimately the (flawless) LLN approach to depressive black metal.
This isn't a whiny, over-produced, hunk of Swedish posturing crap (Lifelover), this is the real thing. This is raw, negative emotion brought to you through a four track. The vocals aren't reminiscent of Korn, or a metrosexual wrist cutter crying about the fat chick dancing with Sven instead of himself at the disco (Lifelover). Nor is this a cardigan wearing hipster with bottle cap glasses poetically embellishing on the beauty of the Starbucks mountains (Ash Borer), but the shrieks of a lost French Canadian wailing for the death of the woodlands, and the commercialization of the north. I feel almost disgusting praising this on a site littered with such filth, however, there are those who do not choose to pose, that deserve their chance at an education on what it is to be morbid. Hails.
