ECLECTIKA

In a land, somewhere deep in the Dijon area, some guy in a cloak and a couple of other folk got together to produce some terribly grand music. And kill some Orcs or some other mystical foe (probably good music). In order to go unnoticed on their quest in the region of Norwegianblackmetalville they had to disguise their music as typically badly produced, which they achieved with aplomb. Except for the orchestral parts, which sound as good now as they did on Atari computers a couple of decades ago. Having conquered garden allotments with their debut album 'The Last Blue Bird', they continued their quest for global domination with 'Dazzling Dawn'; a collection of ten sort-of-black metal tunes that just kind of happen, without you even noticing (stealth-metal anyone?). Still, Sébastien Regnier (the only member with an instrument credit) can certainly play; his leads dominate everything, mistakes and all. It's just a shame that the songs themselves had to be so damn mediocre. The female singer, whilst attempting opera, sounds like she is being distracted by writing her CV in the process. The drum programming, whilst certainly not basic, is arse-numbingly boring, yet erratic, on the slower sections. In fact, on 'Les Demons Obsedants du Regret' everything sounds in grave danger of falling apart, such is the bemusing drum pattern and, at times, discordant synth. 'Experience 835' and '11 Corps Dechames' seem to be on the album for no apparent reason with their mild-electro/ambient/industrial leanings (read: noise). Never mind, such triflings are merely surface imperfections on an otherwise confusing mess of an album.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Asylum Ruins Records

Album

DAZZLING DAWN

Review by Steve Cowan

RUNNING TIME:

49:00

RELEASE DATE:

25th Feb 2010

TRACK LISTING

1) The End
2) Dazzling Dawn
3) Sophist Revenge
4) Les Démons Obsédants du Regret
5) There is no Daylight in the Darkest Paradise
06) Experience 835
7) The Next Blue Exoplanet
8) Marble Altar
9) Stockholm Syndrome
10) 11 Corps Décharnés

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

France

"...a collection of ten sort-of-black metal tunes that just kind of happen, without you even noticing..."