Flagorne - Les Couleurs D'une Fièvre
The first time around that Kalteldur gets to review releases from this interesting French label called Cioran Records. The first label to have a focused dedication to pessimist writers, such as Emil Cloran. The same writer from whom the neo-folk band Of The Wand And The Moon had their cover-art idea, the choking arms photograph. One of the later releases by this label is with an act called Flagome. The people behind the act, are some guy doing black metal and another guy doing hardcore industrial techno. Interesting mixture? Could be.
This release is their debut, released as a limited 199 copies! The artwork is really nice. A nice digibook with matte and worn vanish, lyrics booklet inside, and some ripped pages from books containing the writings of some pessimist writers who inspired the band. 5 tracks, almost 40 minutes in total.
The first track called Salutations starts the album with high-pitched echoed space effects. A nicely done bass is added, and 2 kinds of vocals as well. One screams the lungs out, while the other has a kind of David Tibet sort of chanting. A thumbing heartbeat later, additional cosmic-horror moods and the screaming vocals turn into a ritualistic spoken-word death chant. Some really intense stuff is going on here! The drums also tune into a more hardcore techno feel. Never been much into hardcore techno, but so far it works like a charm!. The track suddenly turns into mysterious radio chatter (with voices) and some atmospheric and surreal ambient moods. Lovely experimental/fusion vibe going on here.
The next track is called Addresses. Here you really get the idea of how black-metal vocals can be mixed into a rhythmic industrial soundscape. Thundering industrial rhythms quickly pulsate the track into being, melodic and distorted elements and with that lovely mixture of two chanting and screaming vocals. Imagine an aggressive technoid In Slaughter Natives with raw black metal vocals. The ceremonial (and epic) intensity is hard to ignore here! And yup, there is actually a nifty melody in there.
The third track Dévore has the sound of a thousand small ringing bells, with the slowly rising sound of a machine-driven militant rhythm/beat. Additional metallic and electronic percussion are being added as well. With some mind-blowing layers of heavily reverbed screaming sounds, I'm feeling the sensation of being frightened of heights here! That thumbing rhythm is really a charmer! A haunting and strange fluting melody in the ending here gets me back to some classic 80s horror flick.
The fourth track De Rien De Bien contains the most torturous vocals on the album, in company with cosmic ritualistic soundscapes and an icy-cold bone-crushing death-industrial rhythm that could stomp an Ed-209 completely flat on the ground! I don´t know a word in French, but the nihilistic and apocalyptic feel is there for sure!
The fifth (and last) track is called Comme Plusieurs starts in a gentle way. Spine-tingling synths and sounds, religious chants, and a slowly building ambient-driven melody. The singing vocal parts are really good here! Strangely soothing and disturbing. At this point, the listener will tell him/herself... these guys are actually serious! When the listener reaches the last track on the album, it gives the listener a feeling that all the madness we´ve heard actually makes sense... in some strange way.
Les Couleurs D'une Fièvre is an amazing thing, it's just a small debut!... but it bloody kicks like a strong mule! I tend to be a conservative bastard when it comes to industrial music, especially when it´s fusion stuff! But this thing happening between these two musicians is obviously.. quite magickal! The stuff works. It´s not just the mixture of two styles of music, but the presence of new thinking and experimentation being present in there as well! Could be a new sub-genre, a sound where black metal kids could meet up with power electronic kids maybe? Highly recommendable for anyone who has a need to hear something fresh and new!
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