Zéro Absolu – La Saignée Review

By Thus Spoke

La Saignée is Zéro Absolu’s debut, but the members already have a storied past. Not only comprised of notable black metal artists—from Alcest, and Regarde Les Hommes Tomber—Zéro Absolu is itself a reinvention. After their original name—Glaciation—was stolen and illegally registered as IP by a bitter temporary band member, they had no choice but to evolve. In concept, La Saignée defends the band’s integrity, and that of the wider (black) metal scene against the poisonous ideas that tear it down, its lyrics described by the members as “confronting [both of their] enemies.” It partially explains the odd cover art, which is not an AI abomination, as it might at first appear, but a photograph taken in the aftermath of the fire that devastated Noeseblod (formerly Helvete) Records in Olso last April. Zéro Absolu are here to make a statement, and the way they choose to deliver it in La Saignée says a lot.

Zéro Absolu’s black metal proper is distinctively French, with deep and exuberant guitar tones, gravelly vocals, and a vague sense of nostalgia hovering about its refrains. There is more than a hint of Glaciation, of course, as well as Abduction, Seth, and countless others. Yet, now more than in the band’s previous incarnation, the admixtures of styles from those who comprise it are given freer reign. Gazey Alcestian plucking and serene vocalisations, and dark post-black turns from the playbook of Regarde les Hommes Tomber play a larger role amidst the frosty second-wave tremolo and drum. La Saignée moves between its aspects as mood takes it, unspooling the manifesto that Zéro Absolu have created. This is where the album’s structure plays a crucial role, for La Saignée consists of only two songs. The first, title track—an epic of over twenty minutes—feels like the raison d’être for this record and for Zéro Absolu themselves, rising and falling anthemically. The second, “Le Temps Détruit Tout,”—comparatively short at 13 minutes and change—is more reflective and solemn overall, though not without its own blackened surges of ardour. This duality more or less completely dissolves La Saignée into one piece, making it more stirring and immersive, and thus serving as the apt instantiation of Zéro Absolu’s declarative (re-)entrance.

By marrying an evocative black metal core with the threads of post-black at their disposal, Zéro Absolu create something powerful. Dispossessed of a lyric sheet, my French is too poor to parse the words—from both vocals and the static-blurred samples that surface across the runtime.1 Zéro Absolu’s execution, however, leaves little room to doubt their sincerity. The howls and screams which cry out these verses in unison burn with fierceness. The sweeping rise and fall of melancholic refrains—just as much as their incremental, understated derivations— carry tides of emotion in blazing tremolos just as much as the latter drip it in subtly with resonant plucks. La Saignée repeatedly peaks between emphatic intensity and the musings of ambience, and this dynamism feels real to the process of delivering an impassioned disquisition. Yet the other face of the record, which is less straightforward, shows the far-reaching, introspected core. Not only the atmosphere garnered by the stripped-back mellifluousness of gaze, but also the time given over to more abstract soundscapes as the chiming, sometimes eerie synths, lend La Saignée further layers of intrigue, depth, and feeling. It culminates in a rich, emotionally nuanced, and flowing experience that makes you forget, at times, what exactly you’re listening to,2 and not care because it is that immersive.

None of the above is to say that La Saignée is mind-blowingly unique, or beyond devastatingly affecting. But this is partly due to how high the bar already is for modern French black metal, not to mention that set by Zéro Absolu themself, in their previous form as Glaciation. Putting that to one side, I’ll concede that the structure, ideal as it is for immersion and intensity, somewhat runs against memorability, and in a related sense, immediacy. It takes some patience, and more than a few listens, to really appreciate the magnificence of La Saignée, and while you’ll certainly enjoy each of those listens very much (if you’re inclined towards this genre at all), it lacks some supererogatory obvious excellence that demands your respect instantly. This could also mean that mileage will vary between listeners, though I do believe that with time, all will trend towards the favourable.

As a means by which the musicians of Zéro Absolu return to the black metal scene, La Saignée is a powerful choice. In its free-flowing, dual-partite structure, they are reborn and make an emotionally affecting, honest-feeling, and wonderfully executed statement. This is surely just the first step in a new and vibrant career for the band, and what a first step it is.

Rating: Very Good
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: AOP Records
Website: Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: January 31st, 2025

#2025 #35 #Alcest #AOPRecords #BlackMetal #FrenchBlackMetal #FrenchMetal #Glaciation #Jan25 #LaSaignée #MelodicBlackMetal #PostBlackMetal #RegardeLesHommesTomber #Review #Reviews #Seth #ZéroAbsolu

Goatlord Corp. – Temple of Serpent Whores Review

By Cherd

Picking your first official review of a new year is always a little tricky. Most well-established bands don’t release new material in January, so the promo bin generally yields the same types of promos given to our Nameless N00bs during their ritual humiliation audition cycle. As I patrolled the pit for a suitable victim, ample amounts of black metal met my gaze, not unusual in the cold winter months. I’d just finished my raw black roundup piece, so I decided to claim the debut LP from France’s Goatlord Corp. based on the silly band name alone. Further investigation gave me cause for some excitement, as drummer Alsvid and vocalist Saint Vincent of fellow noir métal français band Seth make up half the lineup. Goatlord Corp. has existed since at least 2002, but after two short EPs, the project went dormant, only to be revived 23 years later with advance singles for Temple of Serpent Whores. Was it worth the long wait? Or should this corporation have liquidated its assets to shareholders long ago?

The black metal found on Temple of Serpent Whores is a far cry from the raw black metal I just covered a week or two ago, as well as less melodic than Seth. This is a well-produced, death metal-tinged full-frontal assault led by Alsvid’s unrelenting kit abuse. That’s not to say guitarists Thavsael and Seremoth are left in the lurch; they keep up fine with the percussive pace setting. It’s just that in spite of their aggressive riffing and occasional solos, this is not a guitar-oriented record. If anything, it’s about building a cumulative, ruinous cacophony of breakneck-paced extreme metal to knock the New Year’s cobwebs from our collective brains and strip paint from any nearby furniture. Saint Vincent’s vocals are a bit shoutier than your average blackened rasps, contributing to Goatlord Corp.’s militant sound. He sprinkles in some gang shouts (the title track) and other affectations, like the guttural chant/laugh in “Strangulation Squad” for variety.

Easily the main draw of Temple of Serpent Whores is the unbridled hostility, but it’s the solid musicianship and well-placed flourishes that will keep listeners coming back to it. Subtle melodic undercurrents begin to emerge in third track “Iron Fire Cum” which carries through to closer “New World Preacher (9mm Of Philosophy),” which is the only track that slows to mid-tempo, but which also includes the heaviest chugging riff of the album two-thirds of the way through. The guitar solo in “Strangulation Squad” adds a touch of classical drama to the ugly proceedings, but I’m more impressed with the subtly urgent guitar wailings that zhuzh up the later half of “AR-15 Romance.”1 I mentioned Saint Vincent’s vocal affectations above, and my favorite comes in “World Wide Civil War” when, seemingly out of nowhere, he deadpans “I drink their blood.”

If there’s a drawback to crafting an unrelenting, aggressive sound, it’s uniformity. I focus on the details and flourishes because without them, a lot of this material runs together. Opener “Slave Diciplin” (sic) and the following title track establish Goatlord Corp.’s frenzied ethos, but latching onto them as repeatable songs is harder than it is in the album’s spicy mid-section. Likewise, “Glockdown” strays into generic territory before the thundering “Worldwide Civil War” regains your attention. Thankfully, the band have the good sense to keep their noisome tirade to 35 minutes in total, helping minimize the homogeneity issue.

Temple of Serpent Whores is about as aggressive as black metal gets, and it’s a solid record to get the blood pumping for an uncertain 2025. “Iron Fire Cum,” “Strangulation Squad,” or “AR-15 Romance” would all make fine additions to my Songs for a Vampire Race Car Driver playlist, or any hard-charging set of songs you may keep for when you need a pick-me-up. At 35 minutes, it’s an easy time investment, so give it a spin.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Nomad Snakepit Productions
Website: linktree.Goatlord_Corp
Releases Worldwide: January 19th, 2025

#2025 #30 #BlackMetal #FrenchMetal #GoatlordCorp_ #Jan25 #NomadSnakepitProductions #Review #Reviews #Seth #TempleOfSerpentWhores