(Vide’s unusual new album Aux enfants des ruines was released by the Antiq label in late February of this year, and it may have flown beneath the radar of many listeners who would appreciate it. But Comrade Aleks has done his best to elevate it through the following interview with its French solo creator.)

French multi-instrumentalist Hylgaryss’ solo project, Vide, remained in the shadow of another, slightly more atmospheric black metal duo, Sainte Obyana du Froid. But the balance may change, as Vide has returned after a four-year hiatus, and the project has not only slowed down but also become less extreme and more atmospheric.

One of the key features defining the sound of the new full-length Aux enfants des ruines is the use of actual recordings of a children’s choir, performing parts reminiscent of Gregorian chants. In fact, the opportunity to use a children’s choir recording largely guided Vide, and while some of the release is framed by a flurry of familiar black metal misanthropy with a depressive edge, the main storyline of Aux enfants des ruines is almost a spiritual mass, a call to the outcasts, to the “children of ruins,” as the artist calls them.

An atheist, Hylgaryss sought to give the album an “ultra-religious atmosphere, steeped in Christian mysticism.” The album’s entire atmosphere revolves around children: the visuals, the sound, the lyrics, the sheer purity of the voices brings something unusually tender to the raw and melancholic black metal. So there were more than enough reasons to take a deeper view in Vide’s work with Hylgaryss himself. Continue reading »