HOULE
Ciel Cendre Et Misère Noire
(Les Acteurs De L'Ombre Productions)
44:59min

The always blooming French Black Metal scene and its premier record label Les Acteurs De L’Ombre Productions opened its gates once again and presents us HOULE from Paris. They are a five piece that started in 2019 and by now released a self-titled EP about one and a half years ago. Now we have “Ciel Cendre Et Misère Noire” here (which translates as “Ash Sky And Black Misery”), the first full length album from HOULE. And it’s not an album that can be filed under “easy listening”, even though it is really melodic for a Black Metal record. It’s the rather complex compositions that make “Ciel Cendre Et Misère Noire” an album that needs more than a few rounds on the turntable or in the disc player. In addition to the progressive structures of the songs, HOULE added some ideas to their sound that are not true to the book, yet fit in pretty well. The lyrical approach is either different to the more typical ideas of the genre, as HOULE (which translates, appropriately enough, as “Swell”) write songs about nautical topics, adding appropriate intros and interludes as well. These lyrics are delivered in a very variable way by Adsagsona, who has a range from clean vocals in speech song style to rasp shrieks. Thus we have a really variable Black Metal album here that is worth the attention of anybody into extreme music with a unique note. Yet this review might not sound too euphoric, as some moments of the album are a little diffuse to me, which goes especially for the two final songs, ‘Sel, Sang Et Gerçures’ and ‘Née Des Embruns’. But that’s probably my problem, as I am not too much into complex and progressive stuff anymore. In case you don’t share this problem of mine you should visit www.facebook.com/houleofficiel as soon as possible. The dedicated label is always worth a visit at www.facebook.com/ladloproductions

Thomas Meyer

Thomas Meyer

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