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The third album from this French band strays into a more accessible territory than its two predecessors, which were both faster and more brutal, in a thrashy kind of way. "Mise aux Poings" is more of a straightforward heavy metal album, with more hard rock-styled vocals and also more melodic than the band's previous work. Unlike the first two, this album does not contain any "hymn to metal"-type of song, so people who don't like that kind of stuff will be happy. :) Serge Pujos is now handling the vocal duties, which may explain in part the dramatic change in the vocals, but then again, the vocals from the first couple of albums would not have fit this album much. He has a more melodic voice than his predecessor but nevertheless has a raw, rocking feel that fits the type of music presented here. Note that the band re-released this album in 2001 with Bruno Dolheguy (guitars) on vocals (he handles the vocal duties on all albums after "Résistances".)

While this is somewhat "quieter" than their previous material, this is by no means a sell-out album or whatever, the compositions still being pretty rough-styled and definitely not radio material. Even a couple of songs such as the opener "Rockstar Limite" and "Danger de Vie" dangerously approach the speed metal territory. Overall the album has an easy-going feel to it, less destructive but still enough to keep one headbanging for a while - speaking of which, the album is only 33 minutes in length, which is a bit short for my taste. I guess that missing "hymn to metal" was supposed to be there after all! :) I must admit to not liking this album much when I first got it, especially since it was so different from the excellent first two albums, but having let it sit on a shelf for a few months, I now appreciate this work a lot more. Not as good, but still very good metal, and one more proof that a band can change its sound without sucking big time. I'll drink to that.

Additional Information

Check out the sound samples on the band's web site.