This is the second album from this French band, who quote stylistic elements of King Diamond, In Solitude, Dissection and Tribulation in their work.
I didn’t know the band and wasn’t expecting the expansive prog-power metal that I heard on “Les Miroirs de la Lune”. I pictured a packed arena in the USA with the sound bouncing from wall to wall. I confidently predicted a guitar solo, such is the pomp of the song, and it came but to the band’s credit it didn’t take over, was short and the structure of this splendid song was untroubled. After the high-pitched power vocal, there’s a dramatic change with a female operatic voice overlaying the sombre, sinister and short “Par-delà les lueurs sépulcrales” (Beyond the Sepulchral Lights). All options are open. “L’Archange aux Yeux de Feu” (The Archangel with Fiery Eyes) has elements of both. I’m not sure what the intention was but it’s too much. Operatic tones on top of high-pitched power vocals and a rumbustious heavy metal romp is, well, adventurous. “Conquérant des Lumières” (Conqueror of Lights) begins with a chant before a solid melodic heavy metal tune gets under way. Pomp and power ensue. In food terms, this is like a rich dessert that’s covered in cream and is so sweet and exotic that it may appeal to some of a certain taste but not others. The song title gets repeated ad infinitum. The melody is lively and the guitar work is proficient. The choir strikes up. The instrumentals have an ominous air. Our power vocalist shrieks. It’s a strange use of his vocal capabilities but “L’Ode Infinie” (The Infinite Ode) is interesting. I sense a tragi-melancholic feel, and it is this that gives the song its atmosphere. “Une Dernière Etoile avant Sirius” (A Last Star before Sirius) is on one level a lively heavy metal track but this band evidently doesn’t do convention so there are spooky, theatrical and flamboyant touches running throughout to inject elements of horror. The theatrical element also enters the heavy melody of the title song. Finally, there is a flowing song without the distraction of other elements. “La Seconde Elegie d’un Ange” has all the best ingredients of this album: flow, melody, epicness and just an overall monster of a heavy metal song. The vocals work perfectly, adding emotion. They reminded me a little bit of Mercenary’s former vocalist Mikkel Sandager. “Prêtresse de l’Atlantide” (Priestess of Atlantis) is a high-powered bombastic piece with pretensions to grandeur. It is a fittingly lofty power song to end the album.
There was too much experimentation here for me in the sense that Sacral Night overlaid some fundamentally decent melodic heavy metal songs with darker elements and operatic voices and other twists and turns which in my view caused distraction, not enhancement. At its heart, there’s something creative and interesting here, and it would be boring if the band hadn’t tried to inject wider elements to fire it up. This album most certainly isn’t boring.
(6.5/10 Andrew Doherty)
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