There are atmospheric black metal bands to stroke your chin to, in knowing appreciation of a job reasonably well done, and there are others to lose yourself in completely. Grimoire’s second release, an EP, makes a good effort aiming for the latter with these four tracks in a style that is unlikely to completely blind side anyone familiar with the territory but which has a consistency that elevates it above the churn. With nice touches switching from a breezy, mournful piano-led shoe-gazing style which reminds me of the last couple of efforts from Ukrainian one-man project Zgard or British black metal bands like Wodensthrone or Fen. Throw in a bit of doom of the funereal abstraction, particularly on the vocals, and some nice Enya-style rapturous choral touches and you have enough to ensure that this is another one-man project to keep tabs on.
The second track Les Rumeurs Des Astres probably unpacks the Grimoire sound most completely but the intensity continues on the third track with the final track bowing out with a disarmingly tranquil choral and keys outro. It’s worth noting that Grimoire’s Fiel comes with some pedigree being one of a group of Canadian black metal artists from Quebec that each make up one third of atmospheric black metal band Forteresse. This 25 minuter follows Fiel’s full length 2011 but with each individual track hanging together even more seamlessly to the point where I would happily have sat through another 25 minutes and probably not even realised I had done so. Hopefully this will presage more to come with the same commitment to quality and maybe mining the sound a bit more for individuality.
If nothing else this side project serves as a decent flag bearer for a pocket of Canadian creativity which I hadn’t previously turned my full beam onto (although Alberta’s Dark Forest – which is admittedly bloody miles away from Quebec – were an obsession of mine a long time ago). But even though it’s all over all too soon it also works well as a teaser for the Grimoire sound and will probably prove very tempting for anyone with a broad interest in this sort of stuff.
(7/10 Reverend Darkstanley)
http://records.eisenton.de/album/laorasie-des-spectres-r-veurs
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