Jun 102021
 

(Andy Synn is here again to celebrate three fascinating recent releases you may have missed)

Maybe it’s the contrarian in me, but I’m finding that even as the days get longer and the weather gets warmer (much, much warmer, in point of fact, if this week is any indicator) I’m actually listening to even more Black Metal than usual.

Oh, sure, I know the genre is traditionally associated with ice and snow and northern darkness, but I’ve definitely found that some bands – some, not all – also serve as the perfect soundtrack to burning days of blazing skies and blistering heat.

There’s just something about the seething buzz of the guitars, the ringing melodic arpeggios, the windswept howl of the vocals – something primal and elemental – that so often fits my mood during the searing summer months, which is why I’ve decided to dedicate today’s column to three artists and albums who’ve found themselves in regular rotation for me in recent weeks.

Continue reading »

May 272021
 

 

And now we come to the third and final Part of today’s new-music roundup. If you’ve been following along, you know that Part 1 consisted of music from two doom bands and Part 2 corralled songs from two death metal bands. And so perhaps it’s predictable that I’ve got two black metal bands in this final installment.

SORDIDE (France)

I hope Sordide’s new album Les Idées Blanches has been on your radar. I’ve done what I can to help that happen, having previously written in glowing terms about its first advance track, “Je n’ai nul pays”. And now that a second track has emerged, I’d like to continue the drumbeat. Continue reading »

Apr 042021
 

 

I explained yesterday that I’m on a weekend vacation. I also wrote that I wasn’t sure if I would prepare this usual Sunday column. Obviously, I have.

But because I’m really trying to make as much room as I can for rest and relaxation (which in my case is like making room for self-mutilation), I’ve limited myself to things I can quickly and impulsively react to — just a scattering of advance tracks and one stand-alone video. It was even easier for me to make these selections because all of them are by bands in whom I already had complete confidence.

I’ve also been listening to some albums this weekend that have also seized my attention. Depending on how the day goes, I might have a second installment devoted to those. Continue reading »

Jan 232019
 

 

We have been following the progress of the French black metal band Sordide since discovering and writing about the first preview tracks from their second album, 2016’s Fuir la lumière (escape the light), that appeared in advance of the album’s release. That led to the opportunity for us to host the debut of a complete music stream for that exhilarating record, which became one of this writer’s favorite releases of 2016.

Sordide have now completed work on a third album, the name of which is Hier déjà mort, which will be released on February 15th by Throatruiner Records, WV Sorcerer Productions, and La Harelle. Not long after that, Sordide will embark upon a European tour with the Dutch black metal band Turia, whom we’ve also praised repeatedly at our site. Today we provide further details about all this news, as well as a chance to listen to the opening track from the new album (following a prelude) entitled “La peur du noir“. Continue reading »

Feb 232017
 

 

Last October we had the pleasure of premiering an absolute bonfire of an album by the French band Sordide, displaying (at a high level) a kind of dissonant, atmospheric, intricate, multifaceted black metal with progressive and doom inclinations and a display of technical prowess that frequently veers into jaw-dropping territory. And if that seems like a wordy genre description, it’s because the music resists a simple classification.

That album, Fuir la lumière (“escape the light”), was my introduction to Sordide, and it made me an instant fan. Now we bring you another Sordide premiere, a cover of a song named “Industrielle“.

The song was originally recorded by the French grind/black-metal band Satan (on their 2015 album L’Odeur du sang), with whom Sordide will be releasing a 7″ split in April, timed to coincide with a European tour by the two bands. Although Sordide’s cover of “Industrielle” won’t appear on the split, it will be released on-line as a digital download at a future date. Continue reading »

Nov 192016
 

sordide-video-clip-2

 

When you confront a truly daunting task, sometimes the result is paralysis; the magnitude of the effort discourages effort. Experience teaches that sometimes the only way to overcome that paralysis is simply to make a start, no matter how small the step may seem. Usually easier said than done, but that’s what I’m doing today.

I’m sitting on a ton of recent music and videos I want to write about in the time I have left before our year-end LISTMANIA extravaganza inevitably begins monopolizing my time. I haven’t figured out how I will get everything out and before you that I think you should check out. But this is a start, selected in fairly random fashion, but with an effort to cover a range of styles.

SORDIDE

Early last month we enthusiastically premiered a stream of the new album by the French black metal band Sordide. Entitled Fuir la lumière, it is now available through Avantgarde Music and from the band. And as a further reminder about how good Sordide’s music, they’ve now released a live performance video. It was recorded on October 23 at White Noise Studio. Continue reading »

Oct 052016
 

sordide-fuir-la-lumiere

 

The title of the new album by the French black metal band SordideFuir la lumière (escape the light) — is ironic, because the album is a musical bonfire. I was unfamiliar with Sordide before this, and so the album blindsided me like a bolt from the blue. In short order it has become one of my favorite discoveries of this year. The full run through the album is an absolutely exhilarating experience, yet each track in isolation lights its own fire. Today marks the album’s official release by Avantgarde Music, and we have the full album stream at the end of this post. I hope you’ll put it on your listening list without delay.

I’ve already written about the first two advance tracks from the album, one of which we premiered only yesterday. If you think of the album as a magnetic field (and it is damned magnetic), those songs could be considered the opposite ends of its polarity. “Révolte” is a breathtaking race, with a fireball guitar performance that just gets more exuberant and electrifying as the song rushes ahead. On the other hand, “L’ombre” begins at a crawl — a combination of a slow, grim bass riffing and unnerving guitar dissonance — and then becomes a bleak, mid-paced, stomping rocker; it’s hallucinatory and deranged, but no less enthralling than the jet-fueled “Révolte”. Continue reading »

Oct 042016
 

sordide-fuir-la-lumiere

 

Two days ago, in one of our regular Sunday posts about black metal, I raved about a song (“Révolte”) I had come across by a band from Rouen, France, named Sordide. One thing led to another, and today we’re bringing you the chance to listen to another new Sordide song named “L’ombre“. Like “Révolte”, it appears on the band’s new album, Fuir la lumière (escape the light), which will be released tomorrow by Avantgarde Music — and if you come back to our site tomorrow you’ll have a chance to hear the whole album, because we’re premiering that, too.

The new album comes a bit less than two years after Sordide’s debut album, La France a peur, and after two French tours as well as gigs in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. I’m going to resist the temptation to write about the album as a whole — or I’ll having nothing more to say tomorrow when we present a full album stream. So for now, I’ll just spill a few words about “L’ombre”. Continue reading »

Oct 022016
 

sordide-fuir-la-lumiere

 

This is Part 2 of a collection of metal in a black vein that I began earlier today. In this second half of the round-up I’ve chosen a couple of advance tracks from forthcoming albums and two recent EPs. I’ve again made these choices in part to provide variety and in part (of course) because the music is all very good.

SORDIDE

Sordide are from Rouen, France, with one album to their credit so far (2014’s La France a peur) and a 2015 single (Crève salope, a Renaud cover song). Their second album, Fuir la lumière (escape the light), is now set for release through Avantgarde Music on October 5th. A double-LP version will follow from Avantgarde Music, Immortal Frost Productions, Lost Pilgrims Records, and Saka Cost, and the tape version will be released by Breathe Plastic Records.

As best I can recall, I haven’t encountered Sordide’s music before, but I sure as hell am loving the first advance track from their new album. Continue reading »