Peste Noire : " La- Chaise-dyable"

Keeping it weird they open us with a strange acoustic intro, but then this begins to turn into their most conventional album . They have changed the overall vibe they deliver with more constraints place on what use to be an addiction to experimentation.  The noted change was on previous albums their was almost a gangsta rap aggression to them. Not that they were rapping, but there was more of a street level violence to what they did that seems more credible than dressing up like vikings and singing about dragons. It took the pound of the what could be the chorus to win me over on this one as it is much more along the lines of traditional black metal without the blast beats.

It's the two songs in the middle of this album that I find myself having difficulty digesting. The first culprit is " Payes Sur le bete". This does have a mean riff in the middle , but could be one in a million raw black metal bands. There is nothing to suggest the creativity these guys are capable and find them creating way below their potential. Sure there is a thrashy turnaround , but any local band playing at the par thursday night could do that, the female vocals are the only  touch that bears their thumb print. The song that follows does manage to summon more of their eerie weirdness as there is a  disco feel to "Le Diable"

The whined/sung vocals have personality to them that makes up for what their pipes lack. This is the first song that really grabs me.  The title track fakes you out by making you think they are going to  take on a darker more dissonant tone despite the whistling over it. The guitar than chimes in reminds me of the Get up Kids. Normally I like harsh vocals over clean guitar, but the guitar's melody has too much of a pop punk happiness to it. Then it goes into more of an emo build up. I am split as I can not fault some one for wanting to try new things and I like old Get up Kids, but when they head into Amesoeurs territory I am beginning to think they are pushing this too far , it's almost like the change Shining went through when they became more black n roll than depressive black metal. This is blackened post- hardcore.

There is a damned if they do, damned if they don't element when it comes to  both their experimentations and lack of. I would say it boils down to they don't veer off in the directions that I think sounds the best for them, but I think it's even the direction that utilizes what makes them most effective at what they do. I'll give this one a 6, it's well played and better than most senseless bursts of blast beats some bands put out, but it's still a little bit of a disappointment.