• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

This is a French black metal band with a member of Chambre Froide, a band I discovered back in 2018 through a blind purchase at a record store—a rare occurrence these days! Funérailles de feu ("Funerals of fire") is a nice slab of black metal very much inspired by the Norwegian scene of the early to mid-90s, like early Darkthrone, with the band adding the French black metal je ne sais quoi that gives the sound a little more panache. It's raw and fast and the vocals are hate-filled rasps and screeches that are not made any mellower by the fact that the lyrics are in French, and some of the screams are borderline bone chilling. Despite the raw approach to the music, the production packs some punch and the sound is quite rich, proving that the production doesn't have to suffer to convey this brand of black metal with effectiveness. There are some slower and much heavier songs that really benefit from this. In the end, there's nothing really new here, but it's diverse and very well executed, which is what really matters.