The French black metal scene has always been one of a
kind. During the nineties, we had the so-called “Légions Noires”, an
underground “organization” comprised of bands like Mütiilation or Vlad Tepes, the
French equivalent of Norway’s “Black Circle”. They were easily identified by
their decrepit, lo-fi, and drug-fuelled strain of vampyric black metal, by the
same time many of their notorious Scandinavian coreligionists were dead,
jailed, domesticated by the music industry or revelling in harmonious
orchestrations, singing paeans to their “native gods”, their “national culture”
and bullshit of the sort. But the Légions Noires didn’t thrive for long, as
Mütiilation was the only band surviving well into the 21st century.
Fortunately, there were others who took up the black torch and kept the flame
of putridness alive. Of course, we have renowned acts such as Hell Militia or
Peste Noire, who partially absorbed the rotten, sick sonority of their
predecessors. But these aren’t the ones to whom I devote these words.
I contemplate herein four Gallic bands which share a
set of specificities and the influence of an obscure musician known as Dunkel:
Sale Freux (formerly known as Saatkrähe), Voqkrre and Drakonhail. I’m not going
to delve into details concerning each one of these entities, since you can
evaluate their dreadful art by yourself through the samples embedded below. It
suffices to say that Sale Freux and Voqkrre display many common traits in their
sound, heavily influenced by the 1990’s wave of French black metal, with their
deranged vocals and the foul scent emanated by psychotic guitar riffs, while
Drakonhail lull us into the abyss with their ambient, slow and grievous
compositions.
These are some of the lesser known bands that make the
French black metal scene one of the most stimulating in the world. Here, the
genre has kept its primary murkiness and subversive attitude, keeping at bay
any commercial pressures whatsoever, although not becoming ridiculously ridden
with clichés or infected with the musical and aesthetical staleness conveyed by
many bands of the genre.
Sale Freux - "Edelweiss", from L'Exil (2012)
Voqkrre - "Monotone Funebre Orchestra", from Palans in Pestilens (2009)
Drakonhail - "Errance Monotone", from ...Des Ailes... (2011)
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