I’m always on the lookout for heraldic, medieval black metal in the vein of Véhémence, Eisenkult, Sühnopfer, Abduction, Ungfell, Hanternoz, Passéisme, Heltekvad  and such. And here we have the debut EP from one-man band, Frenchman Alexis Chiambretto, and this 4 song 22-ish-minute debut is a must-have if you enjoy any of the above bands.

You should have some idea what to expect if you do in fact enjoy the above bands; pained, semi-howled, screamed vocals (In French), a throbbing early Ulver is bass, melodic but still searing tremolo picked riffs, and tangible medieval-themed atmospheres (though no folky,  Ungfell type interludes or instrumentation here).

All four songs are top-notch, with a few really nice moments in all of them. For example, the rousing opener “Framée” has a really fucking nice riff for its final 2 minutes, the same for the last few minutes of “Francisque”. “Angon” has a nifty little militant mid-song march and furious closer “Flamberge” briefly adds some clean background vocals to the proceedings and has a very, very nice mid-song break before all hell lets loose and the song fades out with a more restrained, moody final stanza.

A very promising debut EP that continues Purity Through Fire and France’s reputation for excellent black metal.

[Visit the band's website]

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