Les Acteurs De L’Ombre Productions have been working overtime this year and have already provided a few stellar releases for consideration towards album of the year list. The next in line is AORLHAC that fit into the spirit of the label with ease. The band simply sounds badass from the get-go, they’ve got an epic medium of melodic Black Metal which is uncompromising and aggressive. It’s nothing new but their aggression sweeps you off your feet and throws you off the cliff. Right from track # 1 ‘La Colère Du Volcan’, the band takes you to their version of harsh sonic vistas, coupled with brilliant production giving every single instrument their acreage in the atmosphere, AORLHAC have hit it out of the park with “Pierres Brûlées”. I genuinely wish the vocals were even lower at places but listening to their own brand of Black Metal entwined in the spirit of Heavy Metal with a hint of Punk, I realise the harshness of the vocals actually make sense. However something absolutely wonderful happens in the second half of track # 2 ‘Au Travers De Nos Cris’, after the band ends up building momentum, the vocalist switches approaches and goes clean like a traditional Heavy Metal vocalist and at that very moment, you feel like you’re in Iceland watching a shower of lava erupt from a calm volcano in front of you. It’s things like these that AORLHAC does with such sensitivity that simply adds beauty to their madness. The rest of the imagery can simply be from a Tolkien battle, the relentless marching of the feet, the cold wind, iron mincing iron, steel cutting through steel and a blood soaked earth with the heavens above! This is Epic Melodic Heavy Black Metal captured on tape. Track # 3 ‘Vingt Sièges, Cent Assauts’ immediately takes over with a Punk attitude and mixes the epic atmosphere pushing you onto the battlefield. Every track has something to offer here and AORLHAC’s sincerity comes through and delights you all across the album. If I were to make a cross genre comparison, the relentlessness is similar to that of BOLT THROWER! I’d say all fans of Metal must check this album out and I sincerely request you to give it some time. The band uses excellent instrumentation to evoke a dense sense of anguish through their sound and just marches on for the entirety of 53 minutes. The strongest part of this release is the songwriting and the execution, the band has left no stone unturned in putting together their vision and doing it to perfection. Recommended! Get a copy and preferably see them live whenever you can. For more information, please visit: www.facebook.com/aorlhac, www.facebook.com/ladloproductions