I have to admit that I had incredibly high expectations for this despite never hearing of French rabble rousers Paydretz prior to the promo arriving. This is blackened folk metal with members of Himinbjorg, Véhémence, Skyforger, Cruachan and album of the year contenders Hanternoz among others in their ranks. It is historically themed on the wars of the Vendée and the Chouanneries against the First republic during the French Revolution and if you like the clamour of battle amidst your music with loads of big explosions allowing you to smell the stench of smoke and mangled bodies there is no shortage of this among the sprawling 68-minute opus. There’s also plenty of traditional instruments including bagpipes, flutes and hurdy-gurdy. As too are there various guests including Anna Murphy (Cellar Darling ex Eluveitie) on the aforementioned and vocalists Julie Bélanger Roy (Gone In April, Les Bâtards du Nord) and personal favourite Audrey Sylvain (Malenuit, ex-Amesoeurs, ex-Asphodèle).

We dip back in time to 1793 and ‘first blood’ is spilled via chirping birds, bells, and pipes in the form of a merry traditional jig. ‘Le Tocsin nous appelle’ has drums driving in and an increase in tempo and drama as well as the introduction of thick rasping vocals. Naturally it is all authentically versed in French but the first of the explosions is the same in any language and the battle is clearly underway. There’s spoken word parts and the traditional and modern instruments work well in co-ordination providing plenty of bravado in the jaunty melody. Having settled down to the style here and enjoyed a spoken word passage from Sylvie Daubian-Delisle and a revolutionary backing chorus of chants, ‘La chasse aux loups’ is completely unexpected. It sounds very much from another time and place, taking in classical and opera over its short playing time. I can only guess it is attributed to the band themselves although this ‘Wolf Hunt’ sounds much more traditional and is stunningly evocative.

So far so great but following it are several lengthy songs that just don’t have quite the same impact on me and gradually the weeping trilling sound of traditionalism in the instrumentation seem to become more prolific and prove a distraction from everything else. It’s not easy to explain but I guess the whimsical aspects take over from the drama and the drive seems to be lacking as the tale is told. Centre front by the time we are draped under the ‘white banner’ and despite a sterling vocal performance from Julie Bélanger Roy the (far from) weedy, reedy sound is too persistent and frankly annoying as it overrides all the other aspects of the music. Still, it’s all down to personal taste and others may well find it an intrinsic aspect of the overall sound. The whole of this length mid-section of the album really drags for me and the album would have benefitted from its removal which proves quite the dilemma as that would be an impossible situation akin to ripping out a large section of a book.

A rustic and rural scent is delivered via an interlude of acoustic guitar, owl hoots and chanted vocals including Audrey Sylvaine as we move to the final section of the album. There’s some romanticised keyboards and some vocal versatility from clean and snarling parts on ‘Par les chemins creux’ but the album never quite gains the composure that I enjoyed about it in the early stages. A section of spoken Latin, more bells and owls break it up all the more and an anticipated final battle resembles more of ‘The End Of The Dream’ as far as translation is concerned.

Guess anticipation was part of the downfall here as despite flashes of brilliance this just didn’t do it for me. Still, there’s absolutely no denying the album is an ambitious debut that could lead to something much more impressive in the future.

(7/10 Pete Woods)

https://www.facebook.com/Paydretz

https://antiqofficial.bandcamp.com/album/paydretz-chroniques-de-linsurrection