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| #FOR FANS OF: Atmospheric Black |
There are certain moments when you look at an album artwork that you subjectively feel that it must be something really good. I know this idea hasn´t a logic base and sadly, I have listened to some pretty mediocre albums, which had astonishing artworks. But my initial feeling was reinforced when I knew that this side project came from Quebec, one of the most prolific and high-quality black metal scenes in the world. Thus, my initial interest was even stronger knowing that the mastermind behind the Serment is Moribond, a member of the excellent band Forteresse, one of the most respected projects from this French speaking area.
Said that, it's time to focus on ‘Chante, Ô Flamme de la Liberté’, the debut album by Serment. The already mentioned beautiful artworks depicts a typical snowed landscape of Quebec. This painting is strongly related to the album´s concept, which is based on an old legend. According to that, a pact with the devil and the search for a lost heritage began a dark and epic journey to the heart of the snowy forests of Quebec. The undeniable interesting concept needs to be complemented with also an interesting musical offer. What can we find here? As typical in the black metal scene of Quebec, the atmospheres play a key role. In certain projects, this aspect can be found in a more subdued way, while in others, it has a more prominent role, in the mix or how the music is played. The latter one is the case which more represents what Serment offers here. The keys play a very important role with a constant present through the whole album. In contrast to what we could listen to Fortresse´s latest opus, where guitars had a bigger importance, here both guitars and keys share an important role in forging the core sound. However, in Serment´s case, I could say that the keys have a clear leading presence. Anyway, the traditional rawness of the atmospheric black metal bands is tastefully present with a beautiful mix between strong and hit-pitched screams, powerful drums and distorted guitars. After a nice intro, the first track entitled "Sonne, le Glas Funébre" reflects the aforementioned description with a beautiful combination of aggressiveness and melody. The hight pitched vocals sound distant like an echo in a dark forest, while the guitars conform a wall of distortion covered by the beautiful and hypnotic keys. Those keys are like the fog which covers the forest and reinforce the sense of a magical journey described in the lyrics. Pace-wise, the track, like the rest of the album, escapes form the monorithmic structures, wisely combining fast tempo sections with mid and even slower parts, which makes the song flowing in a very natural way. The rest of the tracks follow similar patterns with usually more straightforward stars, where the song shows its fastest and most aggressive face, but slowly reducing its pace in order to make the song more varied in terms of rhythm. Apart from that, the frosty keys cover the tracks like it happens in the excellent "Flamme Hivernale", which is an intrinsic characteristic of this album. The guitars, though being slightly behind the keys, find its moments to shine. This clearly shows that Serment doesn´t forget to compose quality riffs, which fit perfectly well in the overall atmosphere of the album.
‘Chante, Ô Flamme de la Liberté’ is definitively a worthwhile album and an excellent debut, which will make happy all the fans of atmospheric black metal. Serment has undoubtedly infused the traditional Quebec sound in its debut showing its love for the nature and the cold landscapes in its lyrics and in its frosty sound. ‘Chante, Ô Flamme de la Liberté’ is indeed a mystical journey through mysterious and cold forests, the ideal music to listen to when it needs to escape from the real world. (Alain González Artola)
Said that, it's time to focus on ‘Chante, Ô Flamme de la Liberté’, the debut album by Serment. The already mentioned beautiful artworks depicts a typical snowed landscape of Quebec. This painting is strongly related to the album´s concept, which is based on an old legend. According to that, a pact with the devil and the search for a lost heritage began a dark and epic journey to the heart of the snowy forests of Quebec. The undeniable interesting concept needs to be complemented with also an interesting musical offer. What can we find here? As typical in the black metal scene of Quebec, the atmospheres play a key role. In certain projects, this aspect can be found in a more subdued way, while in others, it has a more prominent role, in the mix or how the music is played. The latter one is the case which more represents what Serment offers here. The keys play a very important role with a constant present through the whole album. In contrast to what we could listen to Fortresse´s latest opus, where guitars had a bigger importance, here both guitars and keys share an important role in forging the core sound. However, in Serment´s case, I could say that the keys have a clear leading presence. Anyway, the traditional rawness of the atmospheric black metal bands is tastefully present with a beautiful mix between strong and hit-pitched screams, powerful drums and distorted guitars. After a nice intro, the first track entitled "Sonne, le Glas Funébre" reflects the aforementioned description with a beautiful combination of aggressiveness and melody. The hight pitched vocals sound distant like an echo in a dark forest, while the guitars conform a wall of distortion covered by the beautiful and hypnotic keys. Those keys are like the fog which covers the forest and reinforce the sense of a magical journey described in the lyrics. Pace-wise, the track, like the rest of the album, escapes form the monorithmic structures, wisely combining fast tempo sections with mid and even slower parts, which makes the song flowing in a very natural way. The rest of the tracks follow similar patterns with usually more straightforward stars, where the song shows its fastest and most aggressive face, but slowly reducing its pace in order to make the song more varied in terms of rhythm. Apart from that, the frosty keys cover the tracks like it happens in the excellent "Flamme Hivernale", which is an intrinsic characteristic of this album. The guitars, though being slightly behind the keys, find its moments to shine. This clearly shows that Serment doesn´t forget to compose quality riffs, which fit perfectly well in the overall atmosphere of the album.
‘Chante, Ô Flamme de la Liberté’ is definitively a worthwhile album and an excellent debut, which will make happy all the fans of atmospheric black metal. Serment has undoubtedly infused the traditional Quebec sound in its debut showing its love for the nature and the cold landscapes in its lyrics and in its frosty sound. ‘Chante, Ô Flamme de la Liberté’ is indeed a mystical journey through mysterious and cold forests, the ideal music to listen to when it needs to escape from the real world. (Alain González Artola)
(Sepulchral Productions - 2020)
Score: 83
https://sermentqc.bandcamp.com/album/chante-flamme-de-la-libert
Score: 83
https://sermentqc.bandcamp.com/album/chante-flamme-de-la-libert