Forteresse - 'Crépuscule d'Octobre' (2011) [Sepulchral Productions]

Forteresse is a Quebecois band which has been able to somehow pull off what many bands cannot do: use a pre-existing style, not alter it too much, and somehow end up with a sound that is recognizable.

In this new full-length release, this band has done what it has done before, only with better production. This can mean one of two things... that their fans will be satisfied with the same kind of material that they were expecting from the band, or that their sound could become redundant with each album.

Nevertheless, what we have here seems to be a solid, lengthly arrangement of musics tied together with rustic-sounding soundclips and spoken word passages. The drumming sounds more tight and interesting than ever before, the vocals seem to be howled densely between many sonic walls of reverberation, and the guitars are enough to hypnotize the listener into a strange, pensive state.

Overall, I personally see this album as very specific in the sense that it must be listened to upon the right state of mind. It is as orthodox as it is unorthodox... a taste acquired and fleeting all the same. 

Any way you look at it, though, there is always time for some new Forteresse material. Certainly worth a listen for folks who wish to charter the direction in which black metal is going in the new age.

-Elan

Forteresse - "Par Hauts Bois et Vastes Plaines" (2010) [Sepulchral Productions]


The Canadian black metal scene has more or less made quite a name for itself over the past few years. With landmark albums by artists such as Frozen Shadows, Gris, Sombres Forêts, Utlagr and Miserere Luminis; the CBM scene has really come into its own. Marked by crushing atmospheres and deeply emotional performances, this scene has really set a new bar for the newer wave of black metal bands.

This release is the newest manifesto from the atmospheric black metal project, Forteresse, entitled Par Hauts Bois et Vastes Plaines. What you can expect is 7 tracks of deeply atmospheric black metal, punctuated with distant vocal howls, plodding drums, fuzzed out guitars and texture based keyboards/synthetics. Interspersed within the doomy black metal dirges are tranquil ambient passages than air more on the side of straight textural landscapes, than orchestral flourishes. These interludes are a nice pace-setter for the foggy black metal funeral hymns that follow them. The style of this band is much more akin to something of a Xasthur, Burzum or Gris-like sound than Darkthrone or Horna. Slow, methodical and plodding, the tempo is only a few beats quicker than a funeral doom band. Even the 'faster' parts are not much more than double time variations of the previous beat/riffing. The pace never breaks more than a mid-tempo velocity, which helps maintain the overall atmosphere, it also kind of makes things a bit monotonous.

I found myself consistently comparing this album to a sort of rehashed/watered down version of the absolutely brilliant 'First Spell' release from Gehenna (Nor). Not to say that this album is bad, but I cannot help but think that it never becomes more than mediocre throughout its playing time. The melodies are quite nice, but sometimes seem a bit too drawn-out for their own good.

I would not classify this as a "DSBM" band, but I could certainly see how it could be seen as one. The production is a bit fence-riding on this aspect as well. Everything is soaked in reverb and sounds like it was recorded in a cave. While the mix is clear, the guitar tone is not much more than a treble-y blur of buzz and the vocals sound like they were recorded about 20 feet from the microphone, but the keys and drums are done tastefully enough.

This album is bad by no means, but not really my kind of thing. Not enough variation in the sound to keep it interesting and I simply cannot help but think I have heard this record before, in a more refined (better) form. For those who like slow, depressive-esque, wannabe regal black metal, this is right up your alley. Personally, I do not think I will be listening to this record again anytime soon.

- E.