Experimentation and Black Metal go hand in hand like a bizarre bride and groom. They wander down the isle of obscurity as the shattered windows blow through an ambient, mysterious breeze. The music of the ceremony is a sort of muffled Lo-fi crackle of anguish that adds to the miserable gray walls of the crumbling chapel. A priest clad in black waits at the strange goat inspired altar brandishing a large sacrificial knife, cutting the bride and grooms hands as they meet together and linking them in blood, their screams of pain add to the destructive misery of this graven amalgamation.
Neige Morte are the child spawned after this marriage, a child which over the years has grown ever repulsive. My first exposure to them was in their infancy with their self titled debut through the fantastically weird label Aurora Borealis Records. Quite frankly their brand of extremity was very new to me at the time and pretty much paved the way for my interest in the likes of Noise, Power Electronics and so forth, an unsung gem of the underground Black Metal world. Time has passed and in 2014 the band delivered again with Bicephaale, another testament of the strange. Now as Neige Morte reach their adolescence we are presented with Trinnnt put out through Division Records, but can these French weirdos keep their sound fresh?
The savagery is instantly heard through the cascading, destructive and down right filthy drums, exhibited perfectly in songs like Niquez Bien Tous Vos Mères and De Dödas Röster. This pummeling cascade of horror is backed by rumbling guitar and bass riffs which tear through the mist as distorted shapeless forms of pure intensity, beauty through agony. Vocally this release is aggressive, angry and pained, inhuman to say the least, a evil sound which surpasses even a Black Metal range.
All this sounds quite standard from a modern Black Metal band, until we reach the pinnacle of Neige Morte’s arsenal, Le Lac. This 13 minute epic is nothing short of mind blowing a truly destructive drone heavy assault of terror which twists and turns in an unending cycle of torment, totally enveloping the listener in the true oddity of this perfect trio of Experimental Black Metal, the evolution of this wondrous composition is a beauty to behold, I can only imagine its intensity in a live setting.
Could there have been more from this third album? Absolutely, a first point to improve on would be length, Neige Morte have the staying power to easily deliver an hour long album interspersed with Drone and Noise segments. None the less this could be something for the future, for now it is evident that they know how to write exciting, fresh and weird music that totally delivers on all fronts. The darkness within this could be seen as a touch cliché as it could with so many strange Black Metal albums but that should detract from the talents of these modern masters.
(7/10 George Caley)
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