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By AK BERGWANDERER
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It’s been a long four years, but Ardraos has finally blessed the masses with a brand new SÜHNOPFER album. Which, looking back upon the discography, seems par for the course; an average of four years in between albums… so this should not be much of a surprise when I really think about it. Anyway…
Let’s dive in and see what the offering has in store for us, shall we?
Right off the bat, the overall tone seems brighter, more uplifting when compared to 2019’s Hic Regnant Borbonii Manes. ‘D.S.F.R.’ lulls you into false security with its brief and sweet acoustic intro before launching from the starting blocks at full speed. I’m immediately reminded of the energy and vigor of the first album, Nos sombres chapelles. The hyperactive melodies and non-stop riff barrage on display should immediately make long time fans of this project smile with glee. It also seems to be leaning quite heavily into the medieval feel, much like Offertoire. Upon hearing this very first track, I’d go as far as to say that Nous… already feels very much like the Offertoire follow up most were expecting with Hic…. And it’s not to say that Hic... was a bad album, I just think most folks were not expecting to hear the darker, more somber melodies that were based on old traditional songs of the Bourbonaise region of France, even influencing the main riffs. But now with the release of Nous…, the prior album does feel very much like a slight departure from the “usual” path Ardraos had started on with the early discography.
The title track is the second metallic slab, and it very much solidifies my initial thoughts. This is CLASSIC Sühnopfer, back again! With each passing track that follows, the formula does not deviate one single bit. Just an absolute assault to the eardrums, of beautifully written and executed melodic and medieval themed black metal of the highest order. Now, this is not to say that this album is strictly a one trick pony. There are a couple slight wrinkles to the formula that helps this to stand out among the other albums in the discography. Allow me to lay them out:
– First and foremost, I noticed there is more use of clean vocal choirs for backing vocals, including some great female operatic singing on ‘D.S.F.R.’.
– The second thing I noticed, and maybe this is just my memory being a bit fuzzy of the prior efforts (despite having listened to the other albums back-to-back-to-back recently… probably a bit much to take on at once…), but there seems to be more true ‘lead’-like guitar riffs that erupt from the melodic tremolo picked firestorm. They stick out and really add quite a bit of energy to an already infectious formula.
Now, this may be a bit of a bold statement, but I’m going to go as far as to say this is quite possibly Ardraos‘s finest hour as a musician. There is a serious level of excitement and joy that launches out of the speakers that you can’t help but to be enveloped in. Whether it’s the main riffing on display, the vocals, acoustic moments like the baroque type folk intro of ‘Pays d’Allen’, and of course the drumming, everything is firing on all cylinders. Honestly, this may very well be the most impressive drumming that Ardraos has laid down yet. Plenty of impressive skinsmen to be found in this particular niche area of French black metal, but Ardraos is putting everyone in place with this performance.
Production wise, this is quite warm-sounding. The melodies and such are of the frigid and cold rain soaked medieval variety, but it’s not *harsh*. It seems that the guitars got “rounded off”, so to speak. But what that means is these infectious melodies will worm their way into your ear-holes without feeling like they’re being stabbed with ice picks. I’m currently blasting this at full volume in my headphones, and am quite pleasantly enjoying the experience. The production also makes you realize as you get deeper into the album, there are a LOT of layers your ears start picking up on within the guitar parts. Some would call this a riff salad of an album, and rightly so, but yet it somehow avoids being bogged down with it, and every part of that so-called salad comes through loud and very clear. As per protocol for most black metal, there’s no bass guitar to be found at all, but you really don’t miss it with the density of the guitars themselves.
In short, this is the best Sühnopfer offering since Offertoire, if not the best Sühnopfer album to date. That last statement will require many more listens to confirm this, but the initial impression is quite favorable. I have a very sneaking suspicion that this will be finding a place in many a year end list. And, again, rightfully so.
Nous sommes d’Hier is available now via Debemur Morti Productions.
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Purchase Nous sommes d’Hier on CD, LP and digital from Bandcamp HERE or the Debemur Morti webstore HERE.
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