The French metal scene was always full of surprises. Although, seldom French speaking bands managed to rise outside the borders of their country, especially in the global metal mainstream, they always bore a fascination as with all bands that use their native language instead of English.
Enter SACRAL NIGHT, the newest French sensation, ready to release their second full length. Tthe band has baptized their style as “Dark Heavy Metal” a characterization that its quite accurate I must say. Their songs are indeed quite moody, dark and stream of melancholy and evilness, elements clearly inspired by bands like IN SOLITUDE, PORTRAIT, ATTIC and of course KING DIAMOND / MERCYFUL FATE. However, while most of these bands combine the dreadful atmosphere with speed metal outbursts, SACRAL NIGHT prefer a more mid-tempo approach that generates an epic feeling.
Moreover SACRAL NIGHT mention bands like DISSECTION and TRIBULATION as primary inspirations, something that can be heard on the more blasting parts of their music (you can for example, listen carefully the “Une Derniere Etoile Avant Sirius” track -or the main verses of the “Le Diademe d’ Argent” track- and you should get the point quite quickly). Those are actually some moments on the album when the tempo becomes faster, those moments really rock! I should also mention that at times SACRAL NIGHT reminded me of the French band MISANTHROPE, thanks to the overall dark atmosphere of their music plus some specific lead guitar parts and of course those amazing epic harmonies.
The band’s style is not based on sharp riffs and explosive leads, therefore songs are structured upon guitar harmonies, bitter-sweet leads and mostly on the theatrical performance of Antoine Volhard. Although I don’t know a singe French word, his dreary singing manages to dominate the whole outcome.
“Le Diadème d’ Argent” is an interesting and challenging album. The use of French distinguishes it from the rest and the exceptional songwriting makes it essential for every fan of darkened Heavy Metal.
Second opinion:
The new album of the French simply rules. It is blessed with a very special type of songwriting that combines many interesting elements: The vein of the mid 80s classic French Heavy Metal, the dark glimpse of the Danish curse of MERCYFUL FATE plus lots of Swedish mid 90s Black Metal touches -also known as DISSECTION– mainly on guitars. Listen carefully and you should even discover this very specific early 90s Greek -or should I write “Hellenic?”- Black Metal touch especially on the keyboards -for example on the chorus bridges of “Pretresse de l’ Atlantide” track-. All the above are delivered under a seriously epic vibe. And yes when I say epic I mean epic. Many of your average sword carrying “epic” bands of today would sure exchange some of their happy melodies for a single guitar part of a random SACRAL NIGHT song. I have been enjoying this album for quite a long time and I consider it a real must. (Chris Papadakis).
The album will be released on No Remorse Records, July 1st. Pre-orders are open here.
Read the discussion about the album on our forum pages.
Check some airplay on our radio show.
