One could never accuse this French band of lacking ambition, their debut album is as opulent and lavish as anything you’ll hear this year within the symphonic metal sphere no matter whether power metal, death metal, black metal or any other genre you care to mention in metal is your particular interest. Undeniably this extremely talented French band has recorded an astounding set of epic songs loaded with technical dexterity that will utterly floor you.
Opening with a lengthy introduction piece titled ‘Prélude Du Songe Avant Le Cauchemar’ the tune paves the way for the experience and journey you are to witness within the subsequent eight tracks. With classical posturing and a grandiose ambience the opener flows majestically into ‘The Wrathful Beast’ where the enraging intent possesses an imposing symphonic bombastic stature similar to the likes of Fleshgod Apocalypse and Septicflesh. With an abrasive guitar sound the bands metal is firmly positioned in brutal deathliness as the song’s angular riffs jut against bombarding drum work and a guttural vocal style. The complexity of the riffing reminded of one of their compatriot acts Misanthrope where they hurl a myriad of fusion riffs that for me hinted at jazz like tendencies, which whilst tenuous admittedly certainly sent the tune down experimental avenues.
The first of the epic tracks is ‘Throne Of Thorns’ which initiates with an isolated guitar melody capturing a doleful ethos that suggests a sonic foreshadowing of things to come. The drop into purely classical strains is beautifully placed as spoken French vocals really add to the theatrical nature of the song as a pristine lead break ensues enhancing the dramatic poise. Continuing the epic melodrama is ‘Stampede Of The 10,000’ which with its hefty start smashes into the listener with its blasted tempo as harsh deep vocals add a certain gravitas to the songs weight. Occasionally chaotic the songs technically adroit guitar work has hints of German band Obscura as the song plunges brilliantly into a serene growled whisper producing that theatrical feathering so sublimely.
With a short interlude preceding another gargantuan monstrous tune in the form of ‘Cogs, Gears And Clockworks’ the ticking clock opening maybe a cliché but it serves to set the scene as a tranquil string arrangement filters through smoothly creating a dramatic quality along with spoken words. As the riff breaks through the song generates a cool symphonic backdrop that lightly hues the song with melancholy but also sheaths it with escalating power which you know is going to detonate with a death metal demolition and dutifully does so. As that phase dissolves you are left with an eerie segment that I can only describe as a demonic symphonic circus as a sudden abrupt pause allows the death metal to flash back in as the finale ebbs and flows with teeming eeriness.
My favourite tune is ‘The Slow Flow Of The Spume On The Shore’, though this album is saturated with class, as this track begins with spoken vocals and sea noise accompanied by acoustic guitar. There is something about this song that sent tingles up and down my spine as the classical affectation has a vibrant delicacy I just adored, replete with a sombre shadowy darkness that feathers the edges of the songs opacity. As the metal component is added, it is very fragilely added as even the drum work is precisely and lightly done.
With only a couple of songs remaining on the release special mention has to go to the colossal monumental composition of ‘Cathedral’, this sixteen minute expansive and vast track contains everything a symphonic metaller would desire. With bells and church organ starting the song there is a Gothic charm building up in layers as choral vocals embed themselves into every fibre of the song. When the song breaks for the death metal deluge it is like the opening of flood gates where the deep vocals add considerable solidity to the songs already dense weight. The song weaves around continuously, threading through a multitude of tempo and riff changes as fans of Therion will get a kick out of this song, especially those that enjoyed the ‘Beloved Antichrist’ album. With surges in speed coupled to more restrained passages the song is rife with symphonic pomposity but in a good way that leaves only an extended outro called ‘Epilogue De L’éveil Après Le Cauchemar’ to conclude this exceptional release. The song listens like a dark shroud, like your reading the closing credits after watching an epic film where the calming music is the comedown after the spectacular auditory experience you have just witnessed via strings and piano.
As I said in my opening paragraph there’ll be few releases as bold, ambitious or stridently brave as this debut by Exanimis. Stunning debut!
(9/10 Martin Harris)
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