I must say that it is quite an honour for me to be writing for this site, getting in contact with all these interesting and creative unsigned bands. This time I have gotten the first release from the handsome French quintet Averse, the concept EP Scolopendrian Perception Haze.
Led by Tim (keys, voice, guitars and words), they claim the genre “progressive black metal” as their own, which I cannot deny them. Opening with the dark ambient experiment “Eveil, Grondement”, they swiftly move on to a twelve minute opus, taking the appropriate amount of turns a band of these ambitions should during that amount of time. They cite (among others) Enslaved, Opeth and Solefald as influences, and well, you hear that. The song starts of with a proggy acoustic intro, soon exploding into a grinding fury akin to Solefald first four albums. The growled vocals sound professional, but the clean ones have a few steps to go before competing with… well, the abovementioned sweetsingers. Prog-wise, Averse have chosen the right path; that of the British 1970’s. All that is lacking is a mellotron, but I would rather hear some more eerily Crimsonesque dissonants in the guitars for the releases to come.
Did I mention the violinist? Yeah, they got one of those, he’s classically trained and really adds another dimension to Averse, giving both an air of folk music as well as chamber music. Unmetallic instruments are sovereign, and should always be promoted. The instrumental third track consists mostly of a forlorn acoustic guitar, well played but quite faceless – some more structure and perhaps a violin of two would definitely get me off. The second of the “real” songs (I guess you can see this as a five-track EP or a massive single with pre-, inter- and postlude) is also twelve minutes long, sung in French this time. It is slightly more traditional black metal in a Norwegian sense. Still a fine track, though lacking some of the experimentalism that made “Thus Grant Matter” a hit – most notably the passage at about 4:30 where the violin ostinato gives this debut its apex.
Keep it up. Integrate the electronic sounds, acoustic experiments and the violin even more into your metal, move a bit further away from your influences, and you’ll be eating many signed bands for breakfast within no time. And keep singing in French! English is terribly overrated as a growled language.
-aVoid
VITALS:
Release: Early 2007
Label: Independent
Avantgenre: Progressive Black Metal
Duration: 33 Minutes
Origin: France
Official site: http://www.myspace.com/aversejourney
Review online since: 01.12.2007 / 11:41:53
TRACKLIST:
1. Eveil, Grondement
2. Thus Grant Matter
3. Parade De L’Absence
4. Murmures
5. Sommeil, Devores
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