OSSUAIRE
Mortes Fables
(Nihilistic Holocaust)
28:04min

This is the tape version, just brought to us by Nihilistic Holocaust, of the only full-length of OSSUAIRE (just short of the 30-minute mark), a French band already terminated, which only released a prior demo and a later track on a split. The original self-released CD dates back to 2010, so we can see this is the exhumation of a work that had enough impact to be deemed worthy of a new incarnation. And musically, it must be said it is a competent and satisfying effort. This is dark, dirty sounding Death Metal with low guttural vocals and an old school touch, although with a more elaborate guitar work than most. In fact, because of this it occasionally almost verges on technical Death Metal (mainly on the song ‘Le Siege’, with its contrasting clean solo), although that particular style usually has a cleaner, more modern production, which is not the case here. It’s all very thick-sounding, often grazing Doom / Death Metal, including some atmospheric interludes and actually the whole dragging final track, ‘R.S.P.E.’, which sounds particularly morbid and tortured. This is witness to the relative individuality of the songs, which do not sound all the same as it happens in several minor Death Metal albums. Their sources of lyrical inspiration are, reportedly, the Middle Ages, war and mysticism, which are all very suitable to the kind of mood the songs invoke. I do believe there is no intention to bring OSSUAIRE back… most members later formed the Black Metal band DOMINANT OBSCURITY, which only released a demo in 2009, and thence they seem to have followed separate musical ways. So, you can think of this as a piece of history of the French Metal underground. An interesting and musically solid release you can get from https://ossuaire-deathmetal.blogspot.com, https://nihilisticholocaustrecs.bandcamp.com

Ricardo Campos

Ricardo Campos

Related reviews / interviews:
OSSUAIRE - Le Troubadour Nécrophageophile (Thomas Meyer)
OSSUAIRE - Le Troubadour Nécrophageophile (Thomas Meyer)

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