Gris - À l’âme enflammée, l’äme constellée…
Sepulchral Productions
Black metal
Disc 1: 5 songs (40:37) Disc 2: 5 songs (39:56)
Release year: 2013
Official Myspace, Sepulchral Productions
Reviewed by Charles
Huh. Returning to it today after a couple of years away, I can’t quite work out why I gave Il Était une Forêt.. such a high mark. I suppose it must have twanged some emotional chord with me at the time which no longer has such resonance. Or at least, not at the moment- no doubt the scorching summer weather played its part in dispelling the atmosphere when I dug it out earlier this week. Still, at the time I was definitely not alone in singing its praises. Regardless of my pontificating, Gris are widely heralded as one of the most interesting entities in French Canada’s remarkably fecund depressive black metal scene, alongside Sombres Forets, Monarque, and probably a lot of other bands with Neige in their name. That record undoubtedly captured something. That sickly, hissing guitar tone and frigid Burzumic synths were shot through with a ghoulish sense of humour; quite a distinctive combination. There was also a knack for acoustic instrumentation. This was demonstrated by the closing instrumental- Dryade- which stood in radical contrast to the more electronic sounds that had preceded it.

The reason I mention that here is that Dryade is both where Il Était une Forêt.. ended and where À l’âme enflammée, l’äme constellée… picks up. Aside from that closing track, this album has a markedly different tone from its predecessor; much more concerned with acoustic, folksy instrumentation as a counterbalance to the metal (which is also different- see below). In this, it reminds me of Opeth back before they started using their moogs and mellotrons, if I can be allowed this shockingly mainstream namedrop. There are a great many such interludes strewn throughout the album, and they are usually much more than snippets as well; given so much attention by the band that they have inflated the running length to almost an hour and a half. They give the record a more organic feel, and one which is a touch- dare I say?- warmer.

That’s not the only new thing. The metal tracks here are also significantly riffier than they were previously. The depressive black metal elements are downplayed, in favour of some surprisingly sludgy rock hooks- see for example Igneus, with its pounding basslines and hissing backbeats, which only morphs into black metal at the climax. Something similar could be said of Les Forges. The result is that even if it is perpetually draped in a similar sense of melancholy, structurally this feels like a more straightforward record than Il Était une Forêt... At the risk of sounding glib, it would be relatively easy to peg this as one of those ‘heavy riffing alternating with nice acoustic bits’ albums that are quite commonplace today.

For sure, anyone who knows the band will expect the quieter sections in particular to be well-executed, and for the most part they would be right. The delicately interwoven guitar and violin on opener L’Aube will set listeners tingling with anticipation, for example, especially when married to some interestingly off-kilter drumming and splish-splosh cymbals. Also see the super-creepy flute playing and string screeching that opens Samsara, reminding me of one of Blood of the Black Owl's shamanistic jams. I really like the efforts to inject more ambition and dynamism into the drumming, but it doesn’t always come off. It can seem a little too busy, lacking the crystal clear simplicity of, say, Morningrise. Listen to the acoustic interlude about 10 minutes into Les Forges- the percussion here just seems heavy handed, and it is by no means the only such example. Still, in its quiet moments À l’âme enflammée, l’äme constellée… can be extraordinarily atmospheric.

Some of the most effective parts are when all of this bleeds together, such as when the strings start to intrude abrasively into the crackling electric guitars in Les Forges. It’s at times like these that I feel the best comparison are the likes of Fen, who also like to wrap their black metal up in folksy mystery. However, also like with Fen, the resulting sound can feel cluttered because there are so many different elements interlocking, sometimes without enough finesse. This is by no means a flawless record, then, and at times the length seems overindulgent. But, there are enough moments of supreme atmosphere to appeal to initiated listeners.

Killing Songs :
Igneus, Les Forges
Charles quoted 75 / 100
Other albums by Gris that we have reviewed:
Gris - Il Était une Forêt... reviewed by Charles and quoted 90 / 100
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