DECEMBRE NOIR
A Discouraged Believer
(F.D.A. Records)
37:01min

DECEMBRE NOIR from Germany are besides NAILED TO OBSCURITY the new hopefuls in a style, that had its peak in the mid 90s, but then seemed to die out after that time, due to lack of talented and unique sounding bands, so I am happy to hear some new and fresh tunes in form of melancholic Doom / Death Metal from these fine newcomers. Founded already in 2008, it took them a while to find their own style and then some line-up changes delayed the release of their first output. But the current line-up seems to work out perfect as they find the right balance between melancholy, despair and hardness. Their songs never sound weepy, what made a lot of bands fail in that genre back then and only MY DYING BRIDE is able to create this weepy suffering Doom / Death still sounding honest. And yes, influences of some great bands are there like MY DYING BRIDE, old KATATONIA, old PARADISE LOST and good old CEMETARY come into my mind, listening to this fine release. But also classic Gothic Rock bands like THE CURE found the way as influence into their sound in form of a killer song like ‘Resurrection’ . The production is powerful, clear and all instruments are balanced properly. The drums are powerful, sometimes with slight blast beats, double bass applications and the most important instrument in this kind of music, the vocals, fit perfect into their style and cover all genre typical uses like grunts, whispers and spoken word parts. Slight uses of keyboards add some traces of colour in the created soundscape of grimness and despair. Also slight uses of acoustic guitars fulfill this beautiful sound picture. Again F.D.A. Records proof their fine taste for good underground bands and if you like this genre, get yourself a copy of this fine album. Also a vinyl version will be pressed with the first 300 copies in orange vinyl. www.facebook.com/decembrenoir, www.fda-records.com

Michael Kujawska

Michael Kujawska

Related reviews / interviews:
DECEMBRE NOIR - Forsaken Earth (Michael Kujawska)

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