This is one of those tricky ones to review as this French trio do not give much away and what they do compared to what is described strikes me as incorrect. Here they follow up debut EP imaginatively entitled I with VI more tracks entitled numerically. There’s something either decidedly pretentious about going down this route or simply lazy and unimaginative. Well that’s my opinion anyway. We are told that Bacchus play a style of psych black metal. Now this certainly does not strike me as black metal nor for that matter psych apart from by the way of the fact that apparently their music “draws inspiration from altered states induced by substance use and the intoxicating creativity that comes from it.” Ok so they like taking drugs, perhaps that is why they think their music is what they claim. I don’t know but with this and that they consider it mind-expanding is something that the listener will have to decide for themselves.
As a heavy synth note leads into what is admittedly a mesmerising sound and one that during the course of the journey is never particularly extreme in any sense and with that, aligned to what most people would expect from black metal. It’s all quite dreamy, the electronic elements subtly flowing around things, guitars twirling, drums taking up a steady beat. Perhaps there are further clues to where things are coming from lyrically? No, not at all. The main stance here from Sébastien B (Abyssal Vacuum, Dysylumn, Ominous Shrine) is simply to croon and emote with “la, la la’s.” He does this a fair bit during the album although on the second part here there are some growls and clean parts that have words to them over a melody that actually reminds a bit of PIL classic ‘Order Of Death.’ Interpreting what he is saying unfortunately remains very much a mystery and I am lost when it comes to a song that for me strikes more of progressive dark and even gothic metal than anything formerly suggested. The good thing despite all this is that it is an interesting and pleasant enough listening experience throughout and you do find yourself happily going along with the flow of the album’s fairly compact running time.
There is at times a ritualistic feeling such as found on the chanting verse and electro toned third number but I can’t really penetrate into either the “occult” or the “madness” that is mentioned in the accompanying PR blurb. As for the astral-projected elements that also is probably down to whatever drugs you want to indulge in whilst listening. We revisit the strong melody lines in part IV and I guess it reminds along with the vocals a bit of a very mellow late era Arcturus as we sway along with it. The longest number moves from more dulcet “la las” to a section of mysterious spoken word growls and the band continue repeating motifs in a fashion that is obviously designed to hypnotise their audience. You have to be open to such powers of suggestion though and by now I am feeling all the more sceptical. This one meanders far too much and to be honest actually gets quite boring.
This isn’t a bad album by any means. In fact, I really liked the second and fourth segments but overall it certainly wasn’t what I was expecting and it is on the whole far too indulgent and overblown by its own descriptors.
(6/10 Pete Woods)
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