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VERKER (Estats Units) presenta nou àlbum: "Twilight... (Røkkr, Act I)" #Verker #AtmosphericBlack #FolkMetal #Setembre2026 #EstatsUnits #NouÀlbum #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

Hanternoz – A Hed an Noz, a Noz, a Noz Review

One of the things I enjoy most about folk metal is that I never know exactly what I’m…
#NewsBeep #News #Music #2.5 #2026 #AHedanNozaNozaNoz #AntiqRecords #Aug26 #BlackMetal #CnocAnTursa #Entertainment #FolkMetal #FrenchMetal #Grylle #Hanternoz #MedievalBlackMetal #review #Reviews #UK #UnitedKingdom #Vehemence
https://www.newsbeep.com/uk/759062/

One of the things I enjoy most about folk metal is that I never know exactly what I’m going to hear until I press play. This is, of course, due to the fact that folk music in general varies so widely depending on the region from which it originates. Hyver, who runs the label Antiq Records in France, has been crafting medieval-style folk/black metal under various musical projects for some time now. Twelve found plenty to praise in 2021’s Au Fleuve de Loire, notwithstanding its patchwork nature. The latest collection of Hanternoz songs is each about a different type of devil from Breton folklore. From what I can gather, A Hed an Noz, a Noz, a Noz loosely translates as “At Night, At Night, At Night” in Breton. Does this album go bump in the night or does it fall with a flat thud?

A Hed an Noz should sound familiar to those who have heard Hyver’s other work. The bread and butter is still the heroic trem-picked guitars and gallant drumming that one can also hear from Véhémence or (to a lesser extent) Grylle. Hyver’s vocals are as chameleonic as ever, adopting many different shades of demonic rasps, growls, and groans that embody the album’s theme. This diversity in vocal styles is fortunate because the diversity of instrumentation has greatly diminished. This time, Hanternoz mostly takes the Cnoc An Tursa approach of examining folk music through a metal lens without much in the way of actual folk instruments, which are sequestered to the lone instrumental interlude “Pe trouz War an Douar.”

The fact that the bag of tricks from which Hanternoz draws is much smaller ends up holding back A Hed an Noz. It’s a sizable step backward from Au Fleuve de Loire, where the folk music and synths were woven directly into the black metal in a more energetic and dynamic fashion. Hanternoz may have taken to heart Twelve’s prior observation of the compositions feeling stitched together because A Hed an Noz is certainly more cohesive, but at the cost of much of its zeal. To be fair, this is not an issue across the board. Most notably, “La Lessive des Trépassés” is punchy and to the point, with Joanna Maeyens’1 guest vocals overlapping enchantingly with the predominant growls. The production of A Hed an Noz is nice and crisp, especially with regard to the bass mixing, which greatly enriches the guitar lines (“La Peste à Limoges,” “Quand j’ai tué le Roi de la Forêt”).

Yet, these promising core elements of A Hed an Noz are undermined by an overreliance on repetition. Opener “Sur le Chemin des fées” is somehow galloping and plodding at the same time, the triumphant guitars becoming muted as they build up again and again towards a payoff that never comes after nearly 12 minutes. Closing track “Quand j’ai tué le Roi de la Forêt” gets stuck in a mid-paced rut, resulting in a more lethargic sensation than should be warranted given the valiant guitar leads. The long-form songwriting in “La Peste à Limoges” fares better, centered around an infectious, bouncy groove which gets my head bobbing, though the midsection is a tad protracted and disjointed. The charismatic vocal delivery helps but isn’t enough to overcome the fact that no song on A Hed an Noz is justified in being over 6 minutes long, yet most of them are.

Ultimately, A Hed an Noz left less and less of an impression on me the more time I spent with it. The delightful unpredictability from Au Fleuve de Loire is simply not present here. I am left puzzled as to why Hanternoz decided to discard the majority of the toolkit that served them well in the past. There is a fair amount of decent material here that would have done better without as much padding, and it’s worth a listen by anyone who enjoys Hyver’s take on medieval black metal. Just expect less medieval and more monotony this time around.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Antiq Records
Websites: antiqofficial.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/people/Hanternoz-Pagan-de-Bretagne
Releases Worldwide: August 3rd, 2026

One of the things I enjoy most about folk metal is that I never know exactly what I’m going to hear until I press play. This is, of course, due to the fact that folk music in general varies so widely depending on the region from which it originates. Hyver, who runs the label Antiq Records in France, has been crafting medieval-style folk/black metal under various musical projects for some time now. Twelve found plenty to praise in 2021’s Au Fleuve de Loire, notwithstanding its patchwork nature. The latest collection of Hanternoz songs is each about a different type of devil from Breton folklore. From what I can gather, A Hed an Noz, a Noz, a Noz loosely translates as “At Night, At Night, At Night” in Breton. Does this album go bump in the night or does it fall with a flat thud?

A Hed an Noz should sound familiar to those who have heard Hyver’s other work. The bread and butter is still the heroic trem-picked guitars and gallant drumming that one can also hear from Véhémence or (to a lesser extent) Grylle. Hyver’s vocals are as chameleonic as ever, adopting many different shades of demonic rasps, growls, and groans that embody the album’s theme. This diversity in vocal styles is fortunate because the diversity of instrumentation has greatly diminished. This time, Hanternoz mostly takes the Cnoc An Tursa approach of examining folk music through a metal lens without much in the way of actual folk instruments, which are sequestered to the lone instrumental interlude “Pe trouz War an Douar.”

The fact that the bag of tricks from which Hanternoz draws is much smaller ends up holding back A Hed an Noz. It’s a sizable step backward from Au Fleuve de Loire, where the folk music and synths were woven directly into the black metal in a more energetic and dynamic fashion. Hanternoz may have taken to heart Twelve’s prior observation of the compositions feeling stitched together because A Hed an Noz is certainly more cohesive, but at the cost of much of its zeal. To be fair, this is not an issue across the board. Most notably, “La Lessive des Trépassés” is punchy and to the point, with Joanna Maeyens’1 guest vocals overlapping enchantingly with the predominant growls. The production of A Hed an Noz is nice and crisp, especially with regard to the bass mixing, which greatly enriches the guitar lines (“La Peste à Limoges,” “Quand j’ai tué le Roi de la Forêt”).

Yet, these promising core elements of A Hed an Noz are undermined by an overreliance on repetition. Opener “Sur le Chemin des fées” is somehow galloping and plodding at the same time, the triumphant guitars becoming muted as they build up again and again towards a payoff that never comes after nearly 12 minutes. Closing track “Quand j’ai tué le Roi de la Forêt” gets stuck in a mid-paced rut, resulting in a more lethargic sensation than should be warranted given the valiant guitar leads. The long-form songwriting in “La Peste à Limoges” fares better, centered around an infectious, bouncy groove which gets my head bobbing, though the midsection is a tad protracted and disjointed. The charismatic vocal delivery helps but isn’t enough to overcome the fact that no song on A Hed an Noz is justified in being over 6 minutes long, yet most of them are.

Ultimately, A Hed an Noz left less and less of an impression on me the more time I spent with it. The delightful unpredictability from Au Fleuve de Loire is simply not present here. I am left puzzled as to why Hanternoz decided to discard the majority of the toolkit that served them well in the past. There is a fair amount of decent material here that would have done better without as much padding, and it’s worth a listen by anyone who enjoys Hyver’s take on medieval black metal. Just expect less medieval and more monotony this time around.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Antiq Records
Websites: antiqofficial.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/people/Hanternoz-Pagan-de-Bretagne
Releases Worldwide: August 3rd, 2026

One of the things I enjoy most about folk metal is that I never know exactly what I’m going to hear until I press play. This is, of course, due to the fact that folk music in general varies so widely depending on the region from which it originates. Hyver, who runs the label Antiq Records in France, has been crafting medieval-style folk/black metal under various musical projects for some time now. Twelve found plenty to praise in 2021’s Au Fleuve de Loire, notwithstanding its patchwork nature. The latest collection of Hanternoz songs is each about a different type of devil from Breton folklore. From what I can gather, A Hed an Noz, a Noz, a Noz loosely translates as “At Night, At Night, At Night” in Breton. Does this album go bump in the night or does it fall with a flat thud?

A Hed an Noz should sound familiar to those who have heard Hyver’s other work. The bread and butter is still the heroic trem-picked guitars and gallant drumming that one can also hear from Véhémence or (to a lesser extent) Grylle. Hyver’s vocals are as chameleonic as ever, adopting many different shades of demonic rasps, growls, and groans that embody the album’s theme. This diversity in vocal styles is fortunate because the diversity of instrumentation has greatly diminished. This time, Hanternoz mostly takes the Cnoc An Tursa approach of examining folk music through a metal lens without much in the way of actual folk instruments, which are sequestered to the lone instrumental interlude “Pe trouz War an Douar.”

The fact that the bag of tricks from which Hanternoz draws is much smaller ends up holding back A Hed an Noz. It’s a sizable step backward from Au Fleuve de Loire, where the folk music and synths were woven directly into the black metal in a more energetic and dynamic fashion. Hanternoz may have taken to heart Twelve’s prior observation of the compositions feeling stitched together because A Hed an Noz is certainly more cohesive, but at the cost of much of its zeal. To be fair, this is not an issue across the board. Most notably, “La Lessive des Trépassés” is punchy and to the point, with Joanna Maeyens’1 guest vocals overlapping enchantingly with the predominant growls. The production of A Hed an Noz is nice and crisp, especially with regard to the bass mixing, which greatly enriches the guitar lines (“La Peste à Limoges,” “Quand j’ai tué le Roi de la Forêt”).

Yet, these promising core elements of A Hed an Noz are undermined by an overreliance on repetition. Opener “Sur le Chemin des fées” is somehow galloping and plodding at the same time, the triumphant guitars becoming muted as they build up again and again towards a payoff that never comes after nearly 12 minutes. Closing track “Quand j’ai tué le Roi de la Forêt” gets stuck in a mid-paced rut, resulting in a more lethargic sensation than should be warranted given the valiant guitar leads. The long-form songwriting in “La Peste à Limoges” fares better, centered around an infectious, bouncy groove which gets my head bobbing, though the midsection is a tad protracted and disjointed. The charismatic vocal delivery helps but isn’t enough to overcome the fact that no song on A Hed an Noz is justified in being over 6 minutes long, yet most of them are.

Ultimately, A Hed an Noz left less and less of an impression on me the more time I spent with it. The delightful unpredictability from Au Fleuve de Loire is simply not present here. I am left puzzled as to why Hanternoz decided to discard the majority of the toolkit that served them well in the past. There is a fair amount of decent material here that would have done better without as much padding, and it’s worth a listen by anyone who enjoys Hyver’s take on medieval black metal. Just expect less medieval and more monotony this time around.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Antiq Records
Websites: antiqofficial.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/people/Hanternoz-Pagan-de-Bretagne
Releases Worldwide: August 3rd, 2026

One of the things I enjoy most about folk metal is that I never know exactly what I’m going to hear until I press play. This is, of course, due to the fact that folk music in general varies so widely depending on the region from which it originates. Hyver, who runs the label Antiq Records in France, has been crafting medieval-style folk/black metal under various musical projects for some time now. Twelve found plenty to praise in 2021’s Au Fleuve de Loire, notwithstanding its patchwork nature. The latest collection of Hanternoz songs is each about a different type of devil from Breton folklore. From what I can gather, A Hed an Noz, a Noz, a Noz loosely translates as “At Night, At Night, At Night” in Breton. Does this album go bump in the night or does it fall with a flat thud?

A Hed an Noz should sound familiar to those who have heard Hyver’s other work. The bread and butter is still the heroic trem-picked guitars and gallant drumming that one can also hear from Véhémence or (to a lesser extent) Grylle. Hyver’s vocals are as chameleonic as ever, adopting many different shades of demonic rasps, growls, and groans that embody the album’s theme. This diversity in vocal styles is fortunate because the diversity of instrumentation has greatly diminished. This time, Hanternoz mostly takes the Cnoc An Tursa approach of examining folk music through a metal lens without much in the way of actual folk instruments, which are sequestered to the lone instrumental interlude “Pe trouz War an Douar.”

The fact that the bag of tricks from which Hanternoz draws is much smaller ends up holding back A Hed an Noz. It’s a sizable step backward from Au Fleuve de Loire, where the folk music and synths were woven directly into the black metal in a more energetic and dynamic fashion. Hanternoz may have taken to heart Twelve’s prior observation of the compositions feeling stitched together because A Hed an Noz is certainly more cohesive, but at the cost of much of its zeal. To be fair, this is not an issue across the board. Most notably, “La Lessive des Trépassés” is punchy and to the point, with Joanna Maeyens’1 guest vocals overlapping enchantingly with the predominant growls. The production of A Hed an Noz is nice and crisp, especially with regard to the bass mixing, which greatly enriches the guitar lines (“La Peste à Limoges,” “Quand j’ai tué le Roi de la Forêt”).

Yet, these promising core elements of A Hed an Noz are undermined by an overreliance on repetition. Opener “Sur le Chemin des fées” is somehow galloping and plodding at the same time, the triumphant guitars becoming muted as they build up again and again towards a payoff that never comes after nearly 12 minutes. Closing track “Quand j’ai tué le Roi de la Forêt” gets stuck in a mid-paced rut, resulting in a more lethargic sensation than should be warranted given the valiant guitar leads. The long-form songwriting in “La Peste à Limoges” fares better, centered around an infectious, bouncy groove which gets my head bobbing, though the midsection is a tad protracted and disjointed. The charismatic vocal delivery helps but isn’t enough to overcome the fact that no song on A Hed an Noz is justified in being over 6 minutes long, yet most of them are.

Ultimately, A Hed an Noz left less and less of an impression on me the more time I spent with it. The delightful unpredictability from Au Fleuve de Loire is simply not present here. I am left puzzled as to why Hanternoz decided to discard the majority of the toolkit that served them well in the past. There is a fair amount of decent material here that would have done better without as much padding, and it’s worth a listen by anyone who enjoys Hyver’s take on medieval black metal. Just expect less medieval and more monotony this time around.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Antiq Records
Websites: antiqofficial.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/people/Hanternoz-Pagan-de-Bretagne
Releases Worldwide: August 3rd, 2026

One of the things I enjoy most about folk metal is that I never know exactly what I’m going to hear until I press play. This is, of course, due to the fact that folk music in general varies so widely depending on the region from which it originates. Hyver, who runs the label Antiq Records in France, has been crafting medieval-style folk/black metal under various musical projects for some time now. Twelve found plenty to praise in 2021’s Au Fleuve de Loire, notwithstanding its patchwork nature. The latest collection of Hanternoz songs is each about a different type of devil from Breton folklore. From what I can gather, A Hed an Noz, a Noz, a Noz loosely translates as “At Night, At Night, At Night” in Breton. Does this album go bump in the night or does it fall with a flat thud?

A Hed an Noz should sound familiar to those who have heard Hyver’s other work. The bread and butter is still the heroic trem-picked guitars and gallant drumming that one can also hear from Véhémence or (to a lesser extent) Grylle. Hyver’s vocals are as chameleonic as ever, adopting many different shades of demonic rasps, growls, and groans that embody the album’s theme. This diversity in vocal styles is fortunate because the diversity of instrumentation has greatly diminished. This time, Hanternoz mostly takes the Cnoc An Tursa approach of examining folk music through a metal lens without much in the way of actual folk instruments, which are sequestered to the lone instrumental interlude “Pe trouz War an Douar.”

The fact that the bag of tricks from which Hanternoz draws is much smaller ends up holding back A Hed an Noz. It’s a sizable step backward from Au Fleuve de Loire, where the folk music and synths were woven directly into the black metal in a more energetic and dynamic fashion. Hanternoz may have taken to heart Twelve’s prior observation of the compositions feeling stitched together because A Hed an Noz is certainly more cohesive, but at the cost of much of its zeal. To be fair, this is not an issue across the board. Most notably, “La Lessive des Trépassés” is punchy and to the point, with Joanna Maeyens’1 guest vocals overlapping enchantingly with the predominant growls. The production of A Hed an Noz is nice and crisp, especially with regard to the bass mixing, which greatly enriches the guitar lines (“La Peste à Limoges,” “Quand j’ai tué le Roi de la Forêt”).

Yet, these promising core elements of A Hed an Noz are undermined by an overreliance on repetition. Opener “Sur le Chemin des fées” is somehow galloping and plodding at the same time, the triumphant guitars becoming muted as they build up again and again towards a payoff that never comes after nearly 12 minutes. Closing track “Quand j’ai tué le Roi de la Forêt” gets stuck in a mid-paced rut, resulting in a more lethargic sensation than should be warranted given the valiant guitar leads. The long-form songwriting in “La Peste à Limoges” fares better, centered around an infectious, bouncy groove which gets my head bobbing, though the midsection is a tad protracted and disjointed. The charismatic vocal delivery helps but isn’t enough to overcome the fact that no song on A Hed an Noz is justified in being over 6 minutes long, yet most of them are.

Ultimately, A Hed an Noz left less and less of an impression on me the more time I spent with it. The delightful unpredictability from Au Fleuve de Loire is simply not present here. I am left puzzled as to why Hanternoz decided to discard the majority of the toolkit that served them well in the past. There is a fair amount of decent material here that would have done better without as much padding, and it’s worth a listen by anyone who enjoys Hyver’s take on medieval black metal. Just expect less medieval and more monotony this time around.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Antiq Records
Websites: antiqofficial.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/people/Hanternoz-Pagan-de-Bretagne
Releases Worldwide: August 3rd, 2026

Grylle – Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards Review

By Twelve

I like Antiq Records. Generally, their albums tread the line between different, powerful, and weird very nicely, so it’s always a treat when one of their new releases happens by the Angry Metal Offices. It should come as no surprise that I’m a fan of Hyvermor. He’s the co-owner of the label and has been a part of several projects that I love—Hanternoz, Véhémence, and Grylle, to name a few. Grylle is perhaps the least “metal” of the three1, and also the folkiest, leaning fully into the medieval themes that serve Hyvermor and Antiq Records so well. Boasting an impressive lineup of guest musicians on all kinds of fun instruments, Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards is the third full-length release from Gylle, and is, as per usual, a treat to explore.

Now, when I say an impressive lineup of guest musicians on all kinds of fun instruments, I mean it. Apart from bass and drums by KK and Cadavre respectively, there are no fewer than seven guest musicians on Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards, whose contributions include a small horn section, citole, bagpipes, flutes, a hurdy gurdy, and something called a mandocello. As a result, Grylle’s music feels more multifaceted than it ever has before. More than previous records, Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards is a black metal album firmly entrenched in medieval and folk themes, with one major difference—nearly all of the leads are performed by what I believe is the mandocello. Nearly all of the tremolo leads are acoustic, and even the distorted guitars are medieval instruments, though those are distorted enough to resemble the electric instruments of today. The result is what I imagine October Falls would sound like if you made them play the metal and acoustic bits at the same time; the riffs have that slick-yet-dark edge to them, while the acoustic sections enliven and enhance.

Of course, that’s not a perfect comparison, because Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards is unquestionably a folk metal album. The gorgeous brass and trumpets (Lazareth) on”Mauvais Sang” work with mandocello and (I think) psaltery to add a shining, hopeful dimension to the song, while the hurdy gurdy (Sparda, Hanternoz, and Créatures) makes “Réservement de Confortale Présence” a uniquely mournful march, evoking Apocalypse Orchestra. Hearing acoustic and stringed instruments race to keep up with a full metal outfit on “Moribond Flétri d’Orgueil” is a fascinating experience, and it makes for an entertaining and strangely uplifting tune. Throughout it all, Hyvermor’s vocals (joined occasionally by La Griesche (Tour d’Ivoire) and Sparda, chant, rasp, and shout out stories for the ages, binding together the eclectic sound in a firmly metal base.

I’m not sure if Grylle has a particular weakness, but there are a number of small things about Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards that keep me from being fully drawn in. “Grande Marche des Covidards” and “Réservement de Confortale Présence” both have nice moments musically, but give the impression of being half-finished, or containing ideas that never made it to full songs. As intro and interlude tracks, they’re easily forgettable, but without them, the album is only about half an hour. With only so much in the way of metal music, every moment has to count, and while most songs are very good—”Le Tropique du Cancer” in particular is exceptional—there are a few less exciting tracks, such as closer “La Triomphe de la Mort.” Hyvermor’s vocals are also an acquired taste; his delivery is expressive and strong but sits in an odd realm of being too strong for medieval folk and not quite dark enough for black metal. I wouldn’t say it doesn’t work, but there are moments here and there where you can imagine an alternate delivery or style suiting the song better. With that said, it is hard to blame Grylle for chasing an authentic sound, and most of the time, it works well.

Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards is a fun album and Grylle is a project to keep an eye on. This is a style of music that is familiar and new, an approach to something established that I’ve never heard before. Grylle has written and performed it extremely well. As ever, I am eager to see where medieval metal goes from here—based on Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards, the possibilities seem endless.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Antiq Records
Websites: grylle.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/grylleofficiel
Releases Worldwide: November 10th, 2024

#2024 #30 #AntiqRecords #ApocalypseOrchestra #BlackMetal #Créatures #EgrotantsSouffreteuxCacochymesCovidards #FolkMetal #FrenchMetal #Grylle #Hanternoz #Nov24 #OctoberFalls #Review #Reviews #TourDIvoire #Vehemence

Grylle – Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards Review

By Twelve

I like Antiq Records. Generally, their albums tread the line between different, powerful, and weird very nicely, so it’s always a treat when one of their new releases happens by the Angry Metal Offices. It should come as no surprise that I’m a fan of Hyvermor. He’s the co-owner of the label and has been a part of several projects that I love—Hanternoz, Véhémence, and Grylle, to name a few. Grylle is perhaps the least “metal” of the three1, and also the folkiest, leaning fully into the medieval themes that serve Hyvermor and Antiq Records so well. Boasting an impressive lineup of guest musicians on all kinds of fun instruments, Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards is the third full-length release from Gylle, and is, as per usual, a treat to explore.

Now, when I say an impressive lineup of guest musicians on all kinds of fun instruments, I mean it. Apart from bass and drums by KK and Cadavre respectively, there are no fewer than seven guest musicians on Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards, whose contributions include a small horn section, citole, bagpipes, flutes, a hurdy gurdy, and something called a mandocello. As a result, Grylle’s music feels more multifaceted than it ever has before. More than previous records, Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards is a black metal album firmly entrenched in medieval and folk themes, with one major difference—nearly all of the leads are performed by what I believe is the mandocello. Nearly all of the tremolo leads are acoustic, and even the distorted guitars are medieval instruments, though those are distorted enough to resemble the electric instruments of today. The result is what I imagine October Falls would sound like if you made them play the metal and acoustic bits at the same time; the riffs have that slick-yet-dark edge to them, while the acoustic sections enliven and enhance.

Of course, that’s not a perfect comparison, because Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards is unquestionably a folk metal album. The gorgeous brass and trumpets (Lazareth) on”Mauvais Sang” work with mandocello and (I think) psaltery to add a shining, hopeful dimension to the song, while the hurdy gurdy (Sparda, Hanternoz, and Créatures) makes “Réservement de Confortale Présence” a uniquely mournful march, evoking Apocalypse Orchestra. Hearing acoustic and stringed instruments race to keep up with a full metal outfit on “Moribond Flétri d’Orgueil” is a fascinating experience, and it makes for an entertaining and strangely uplifting tune. Throughout it all, Hyvermor’s vocals (joined occasionally by La Griesche (Tour d’Ivoire) and Sparda, chant, rasp, and shout out stories for the ages, binding together the eclectic sound in a firmly metal base.

I’m not sure if Grylle has a particular weakness, but there are a number of small things about Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards that keep me from being fully drawn in. “Grande Marche des Covidards” and “Réservement de Confortale Présence” both have nice moments musically, but give the impression of being half-finished, or containing ideas that never made it to full songs. As intro and interlude tracks, they’re easily forgettable, but without them, the album is only about half an hour. With only so much in the way of metal music, every moment has to count, and while most songs are very good—”Le Tropique du Cancer” in particular is exceptional—there are a few less exciting tracks, such as closer “La Triomphe de la Mort.” Hyvermor’s vocals are also an acquired taste; his delivery is expressive and strong but sits in an odd realm of being too strong for medieval folk and not quite dark enough for black metal. I wouldn’t say it doesn’t work, but there are moments here and there where you can imagine an alternate delivery or style suiting the song better. With that said, it is hard to blame Grylle for chasing an authentic sound, and most of the time, it works well.

Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards is a fun album and Grylle is a project to keep an eye on. This is a style of music that is familiar and new, an approach to something established that I’ve never heard before. Grylle has written and performed it extremely well. As ever, I am eager to see where medieval metal goes from here—based on Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards, the possibilities seem endless.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Antiq Records
Websites: grylle.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/grylleofficiel
Releases Worldwide: November 10th, 2024

#2024 #30 #AntiqRecords #ApocalypseOrchestra #BlackMetal #Créatures #EgrotantsSouffreteuxCacochymesCovidards #FolkMetal #FrenchMetal #Grylle #Hanternoz #Nov24 #OctoberFalls #Review #Reviews #TourDIvoire #Vehemence

Grylle – Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards Review

By Twelve

I like Antiq Records. Generally, their albums tread the line between different, powerful, and weird very nicely, so it’s always a treat when one of their new releases happens by the Angry Metal Offices. It should come as no surprise that I’m a fan of Hyvermor. He’s the co-owner of the label and has been a part of several projects that I love—Hanternoz, Véhémence, and Grylle, to name a few. Grylle is perhaps the least “metal” of the three1, and also the folkiest, leaning fully into the medieval themes that serve Hyvermor and Antiq Records so well. Boasting an impressive lineup of guest musicians on all kinds of fun instruments, Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards is the third full-length release from Gylle, and is, as per usual, a treat to explore.

Now, when I say an impressive lineup of guest musicians on all kinds of fun instruments, I mean it. Apart from bass and drums by KK and Cadavre respectively, there are no fewer than seven guest musicians on Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards, whose contributions include a small horn section, citole, bagpipes, flutes, a hurdy gurdy, and something called a mandocello. As a result, Grylle’s music feels more multifaceted than it ever has before. More than previous records, Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards is a black metal album firmly entrenched in medieval and folk themes, with one major difference—nearly all of the leads are performed by what I believe is the mandocello. Nearly all of the tremolo leads are acoustic, and even the distorted guitars are medieval instruments, though those are distorted enough to resemble the electric instruments of today. The result is what I imagine October Falls would sound like if you made them play the metal and acoustic bits at the same time; the riffs have that slick-yet-dark edge to them, while the acoustic sections enliven and enhance.

Of course, that’s not a perfect comparison, because Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards is unquestionably a folk metal album. The gorgeous brass and trumpets (Lazareth) on”Mauvais Sang” work with mandocello and (I think) psaltery to add a shining, hopeful dimension to the song, while the hurdy gurdy (Sparda, Hanternoz, and Créatures) makes “Réservement de Confortale Présence” a uniquely mournful march, evoking Apocalypse Orchestra. Hearing acoustic and stringed instruments race to keep up with a full metal outfit on “Moribond Flétri d’Orgueil” is a fascinating experience, and it makes for an entertaining and strangely uplifting tune. Throughout it all, Hyvermor’s vocals (joined occasionally by La Griesche (Tour d’Ivoire) and Sparda, chant, rasp, and shout out stories for the ages, binding together the eclectic sound in a firmly metal base.

I’m not sure if Grylle has a particular weakness, but there are a number of small things about Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards that keep me from being fully drawn in. “Grande Marche des Covidards” and “Réservement de Confortale Présence” both have nice moments musically, but give the impression of being half-finished, or containing ideas that never made it to full songs. As intro and interlude tracks, they’re easily forgettable, but without them, the album is only about half an hour. With only so much in the way of metal music, every moment has to count, and while most songs are very good—”Le Tropique du Cancer” in particular is exceptional—there are a few less exciting tracks, such as closer “La Triomphe de la Mort.” Hyvermor’s vocals are also an acquired taste; his delivery is expressive and strong but sits in an odd realm of being too strong for medieval folk and not quite dark enough for black metal. I wouldn’t say it doesn’t work, but there are moments here and there where you can imagine an alternate delivery or style suiting the song better. With that said, it is hard to blame Grylle for chasing an authentic sound, and most of the time, it works well.

Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards is a fun album and Grylle is a project to keep an eye on. This is a style of music that is familiar and new, an approach to something established that I’ve never heard before. Grylle has written and performed it extremely well. As ever, I am eager to see where medieval metal goes from here—based on Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards, the possibilities seem endless.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Antiq Records
Websites: grylle.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/grylleofficiel
Releases Worldwide: November 10th, 2024

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