Album: Symbole de Vie et de Lumière
Year:2011
Country of origin: Calixa-Lavallée, Québec, Canada
Label: Wolftyr Records
Style: Pagan/Black Metal
Length: 52:49
Seeing that this band is young, with only two previous releases I am shocked to say I was blown away from beginning to end. With the pagan metal label I was not expecting this, this is true to black metal in nature along with a depressive broad atmosphere. After a captivating intro, the second track "La Victoire du Marteau" starts out with a marching sound and goes straight into a relentless blast that sucks you right into the atmosphere then fades into a Forteresse style lead. A brutal drum roll trances into the vocals and turns into a depressive harmony which speaks for itself. There is even a trace of Burzum later in the second track. When I reached the end I thought it would be hard to top this... but then track three came on. Titled "Terre des Loups", it crushed the second track with a broad wall of dark sound and primitive yet intriguing drums. It stabs at the soul. It was slightly repetitious but not to much, just long enough to sink into the atmosphere. The lead on the second riff was untouchable, literally. Normally you don't hear bass stand out in music but in the third track it stood out and completed the atmosphere, especially during the clean vocals. That is one of my personal fav tracks on the album and the song left me thinking where could they possibly go next. Then came track four entitled "La Forêt d'Or". It started out with a intro of birds chirping and sounds of nature, which traced itself into a atmospheric blast in unparalleled portions. The vocalist always makes himself known at the right times, especially in this track. The riff changes in this song are extreme along with warlike keyboards throughout the song with clean and screaming vocals duet which add more. This song will get you lost in the atmosphere. When you think the song can't get any better the acoustic guitars come in and continue from the previous riff into something more dark right back into where the song left off. Onto track five entitled "Un Autre Rouge Équinoxe". This track you will have to hear to believe, it is 11 minutes of pure dark energy. The guitars blend into each other beautifully, reminding me of Walknut. It`s very trance like and to the point in a repetitive way. It is very interesting how they mix minor riffing and a broad feeling of triumph at the same time. The keyboards are hidden but they add to the overall atmosphere. They have a unique sound in this track. Once again the acoustic guitars come in and take the song in a different direction, with acoustic harmonies and keys buried underneath. Every time they pull this off they know exactly how to get the songs blood flowing once again, a great track. Then comes track 6 entitled "Les Porteurs de l'Ancienne Flamme" It starts out with a few keyboards that break the tracks up well and the way it builds up in this track is perfect. There are no vocals for a while in this track, the atmosphere does the talking itself. when the vocals finally come in it has a strong Wotanorden feel, I was very excited about this. They definitely do this there own way. Then onto the last track of the album entitled "Symbole de Vie et de Lumière"- the title track It was a perfect way to end this epic album. I highly suggest this to anyone who is fans of Walknut, Wotanorden, Bathory, Or even Nokturnal Mortum. The whole album is genius in it self. You can purchase this cd through wolftyr productions. http://www.wolftyr.com/
~Review by Erik Thyshadows~
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