Chambre Froide : "Rouges chapelles"

Normally raw black metal is something that turns me off. However something about what is going on here works for me.
Now granted it could be the mood of the first song that caught my attention and the fact I can hear where punk and black metal meet on this song. They are on Fallen Empire so I am more likely to give anything those guys put out a little more of a chance since they have a pretty decent track record with black metal. Sure the production is lo-fi , but they captured the right amount of atmosphere and the dense guitar tones are fuzzed with enough darkness to please me. The second song did not get me at the same place as the first one.In places it was more feral, but overall failed to connect as soildly with me. There are more sweeping sonics in the song that follows. Still they are no Burzum and not as rock n roll as the punk days of Darkthrone.

 There is a more thundering double bass around the blasts that drive "Cicatrices" . The vocals stay in their mid range bark. Not too growled and not screamed either. I guess it's by this point in the album that I begin listening for something aside from them coming straight for the throat all the time and when this album is played on computer speakers rather than headphones it's really horrible. So ear buds are advised. "Les Enfants de Baal" it all begins to become that blur which is the reason I don't really listen to this brand of black metal. The song writing goes out the window and almost everything gets buried behind the crash of blast beaten cymbals. They do slow but the guitar fades into the background and the production that give this charm now becomes a sticking point.

The title track works better for them as things slow down and become more deliberate. They still indulge in savagery it just comes across more thoughtful. If you do like raw black metal and prefer a more lo-fi sound then you might even round this one up to an 8 as chances are that you will also appreciate the punk rock influences that creep through. I am giving it a 7.5 as it got off to a good start , but by the end of the album I was less than blown away by it.


 4.6