So, it seems we, the listeners, enjoy the rebirth of French heavy metal. First it was HERZEL, next it was TENTATION, afterwards it was SACRAL NIGHT, now it’s MEURTRIERES, a band whose name I am truly curious of its meaning. All of them formidable, with a clear view on how their sound should be developed and full of interesting ideas.
“Ronde de Nuit” is another brick in the French “dark heavy metal” scene as it is composed with the same ingredients that are essential to that sound: old-school heavy metal approach, riff driven songs, not-so catchy choruses, and an ongoing eerie feeling. The band draws inspiration from 80s European metal acts like SORTILEGE (the patriarchs of French Heavy Metal), BLASPHEME, DEMON EYES, OZ, CUTTY SARK as well as “modern” bands like PORTRAIT, ATTIC, etc. I personally found similarities with ACID as well, though Fiona’s vocals are quite different than Kate’s. They are not so high pitched, instead they are quite melodic and, combined with the French language, give a dramatic tone through the songs.
There are a lot of interesting guitar themes through out the album. Though the band’s duet Flo and Oliver are far from being called virtuoso, they are capable of creating guitar themes that sound inspiring, especially the lead harmonies that appear here and there. Songs like “La Revenante”, “Rubicon” and “Alma Mater” are fine examples of that. There is also a couple of bursts of aggression especially in the choruses and the bridges, since the band clearly gives glimpses to the speed metal territory, yet they remain focused in the classic metal path. The album’s short timing (only thirty-five minutes) makes up for lack of variety in the song tempo and structures.
To sum up, I’d say that it’s a great album for every fan of classic heavy metal and that can be heard easily anytime, anywhere.
Check the discussion about the album in our forum pages.
