24 Jun 2016

Neige et Noirceur: "Les Ténèbres modernes"


The ground trembles with every lumbering step from Neige et Noirceur
Neige et Noirceur is arguably among one of the better known Quebecois black metal bands, and is - of course - shrouded in a degree of mystery. The sole member, Zifond, has previously called himself Spiritus, but by now goes by the name Sion Daus. Since the creation of Neige et Noirceur in 2005, Zifond has conceived an abundance of releases losely tied together under the black metal category.


If deranged black metal is a thing, Neige et Noirceur surely qualifies. Where the old Ross Bay Cult scene was defined by bestial brutality, and the current Quebecois scene is defined by refined atmospherics and long-winded compositions, Zifond's project falls somewhere in between - And yet much farther away.

"...Les Ténèbres modernes forms an entity more European in sound,"

The drawn-out articulations, menacing marches and grueling blasts found on Les Ténèbres modernes forms an entity more European in sound, resembling at times the claustrophobic compositions of Deathspell Omega or the spaced-out arrangements of Paysage d'Hiver - Oddly enough, both French-speaking bands.

Even so, there is no clear line to be drawn through the Canadian band's fifth full length album. From track to track, Zifond will move - with confidence and reckless abandon - from trudging dirges over blackened swarthes to electrifying explosions.

The multilayered guitars refuse to step fully into modern territory - In spite of the album's name - with traditional-sounding riffing, but even so the wide use of an array of disconcerting sounds, noises, choirs, growls, samples and more grants Neige et Noirceur a slow moving momentum that can not conceivably be stopped by mortal men.

7/10


Released in 2016 by Sepulchral Productions

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