 | Tracklist:
Monarque
1.La Quintessence du Mal 04:40
2.Le Grand Deuil 09:06
3.Cancer Maladroit 03:23
4.Aux Confins de ses Abimes (2008) 05:59
5.Oubliettes... 03:38
Neige et Noirceur
6.Hymne III 14:51
7.Hymne VI 06:47
Total playing time 48:24
Release Date: 2010 | |
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| Summary: Two young Canadian black metal bands make a grab for the throne |
3 of 3 thought this review was well written
What comes to mind when you think Sombres Forets, Gris and Forteresse? Probably something along the lines of the three biggest and best black metal bands out of Quebec, right? Now how about when I say Monarque and Neige Et Noirceur? If anyone here actually follows the scene in Quebec right now they would probably answer: “two runners up that showed lots of potential with their last releases (especially N&N) but aren’t quite there yet”. Well, a split like this could be exactly what each band needs to break the Canadian ice and climb to the top of the black metal chain alongside those three big names. That is, as long as both bands bring their A game to the table where it matters most.
This is exactly what Monarque does. Everything good from his last album, Ad Nauseam, has been kept while the kinks have been mostly worked out. While he still does not bring anything truly new to the table, his way of playing the classic black metal sound seems more fine-tuned and perfected than ever before. He brings the same amount of energy and passion that was to be found on his great full length, keeps his ear for melody but tones down on the crisp production and it does wonders for him. Although the crisp production did allow the listener to easily pick out everything, the atmospheric edge gained here much outweighs it (especially since any BM listener should be able to easily hear everything that is going on here too). Monarque’s side goes on for a good 26 minutes and delivers a satisfying helping of good old school black metal with melodic touches. It earns itself a well deserved 4.
After such a positive result from Monarque, one cannot help but expect even greater from Neige Et Noirceur. With his last EP, the band saw himself exploring a new territory influenced by the likes of Darkspace and, with a few frills added, he managed to craft it into his own beastly, atmospheric black metal sound. However, no one seems to have explained how important this split may be for him because compared to that release, this just feels well...underwhelming. The basic way the music is built is very similar but the production has been thinned down dramatically and hurts the thick, evil “Darkspacey” vibe the band had started to build upon on his last release. Although the new production does not sound bad, per se, the thickness of his past album helped to hide the simplicity of his riffs and put more accents on the overall atmosphere with the help of a few added twists. However with the help of a strong vocal performance and a few interesting transitions into calmer, more ambient sections, Neige Et Noirceur manages to give his side a strong 3-3.25.
So will this be the split that will launch these two young bands into the cream of the Canadian black metal crop? Only time will really tell but thanks to a strong performance from Monarque and a solid, but underwhelming one from Neige et Noirceur, it just might have the potential to.
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| Recent reviews by this author | | | |
Neige Et Noirceur is pretty good haven't heard much Monarque though
Digging: Rites of Thy Degringolade - Totalitys Commad Digging: Rites of Thy Degringolade - Totalitys Commad
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Monarque's dark ambient project is cool as hell.
Digging: Botanist - I: The Suicide Tree / II: A Rose From the Dead
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Havent heard any of that balls. You sure its the same guy? I've seen a few bands called monarque, monark, etc
Digging: Eluveitie - Helvetios Digging: Eluveitie - Helvetios | | | Album Rating: 3.5
Ok well turns out its the same guy in Monarque and Monarkh. hmm
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My review got deleted long ago of it during that server crash. Cool shit.
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Nice review (pos).
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
thanks man
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Good review, not my thing etc (as always).
Digging: Rosetta - The Galilean Satellites Digging: Rosetta - The Galilean Satellites
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Maybe listening to Paracletus will open you up to this :p
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I still need to listen to Paracletus in full.
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good god brandon wtf
and yeah, i'll get this when you post it on tcm.
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Your welcome SCREAM!
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
yeah wasnt expecting that either brandon
the hell man
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Nice review man. You were just talking about this yesterday!
Digging: Steamy Ray Vaughan - A Little Bit of Rattlesnake Digging: Steamy Ray Vaughan - A Little Bit of Rattlesnake
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i currently have a lot of music on my plate and with trying to get a reasonably decent top 10 of this year post on PtC i've neglected to listen to it so far. tonight will change that and (hopefully) if it's as good as everyone says it is, i'll find somewhere to squeeze it in. Just listened to this though and although I do think this is some of Neige Et Noirceur weaker material, it is still pretty solid especially the Monarque side.
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brandon sorry you got banned but that paragon impure band was pretty gay
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paragon impure is not gay stop trying to be cool
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
"I do think this is some of Neige Et Noirceur weaker material, it is still pretty solid especially the Monarque side."
review in 1 line
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i know, i know js
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pos BITCH!
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