When it comes to extreme metal, Canada is primarily known as the birthplace of Blasphemy, the pioneers of war metal or bestial black metal; however, much like the US, it has had a thriving and evergreen extreme metal scene that, while lacking a signature sound, makes up for it in variety. As such, today we have a very interesting and exciting project that’s finally releasing its debut record. Zeicrydeus is the project of Philippe Tougas aka Foudre Noire, who has made a name for himself in bands such as Chthe’ilist, Atramentus and Worm.
Zeicrydeus is a black metal project that’s heavily indebted to the Greek scene of the ’90s, and despite being formed in 2018, the project is just now releasing its debut record, La Grande Hérésie, through Productions TSO. Now, since Tougas has a reputation as a purveyor of doom and virtuoso multi-instrumentalist, how does his incursion into black metal fare? The answer is with zealous reverence, but with a genuinely fresh twist.
Before getting into how great this album is, I do want to mention one element that can be considered a flaw and will probably make this a hard sell to some, and that is the production. The issue isn’t that it’s the bad production of black metal infamy, but rather the sound. Tougas managed to fully recreate the very specific sound of early ’90s Greek black metal with such accuracy that it’s uncanny: everything from the distorted yet warm guitar tone, the cold but forceful beats of late ’80s programmed drums accompanied by acoustic percussion in key moments, synths that alternate between spooky and epic, and raspy, shrieking vocals reminiscent of The Magus himself, George Zacharopoulos of Necromantia and Rotting Christ fame. The presence of a Thou Art Lord cover, the project founded by the aforementioned Magus and Sakis Tholis of Rotting Christ, quadruples down on just how devoted Tougas is to Hellenic black metal. While it is impressive, if you’re not a fan of the Greek black metal style, or prefer the grim and cold Scandinavian sound, then this record is not for you, and for everyone else, even when their record shines—and I’ll get to it shortly—it’s still very much wearing its influences on its sleeves, however it is also very sincerely made, so it doesn’t lack genuine authenticity.
And with that out of the way, I can highlight everything this album does right. The album opens with an appropriately foreboding intro track which precedes the 9-minute thrashing epic “Ten Thousand Spears Atop the Bleeding Mountains.” While the Greek influence is very apparent, where Tougas succeeds is with how he enhances the influences of Greek black metal; he very accurately identifies the trad metal classicism and thrash riffage that’s present in those early bands’ sound and brings them to the forefront without downplaying the black metal, so while you do have that specific sound and style, it is enhanced and complemented by melodic and epic hooks as well as intense complexity.
To those people who want riffs and riffs on top of riffs, then this record certainly delivers; from the moment it starts ’til the end there’s no end to the riffs. But more impressively, Tougas also adds a lot of his doomy leanings, not just in how he employs synths and creates atmosphere, but in his songwriting. All the songs here are on the longer side minus the intro and outro tracks, but at no point is the length a detriment; in fact, the songwriting itself and the arrangements are so dynamic that Tougas is able to fully explore each musical idea to its natural conclusion and with enough room to experiment and branch out. Beyond the trad melodicism and thrash riffage there’s sinister and contemplative atmospherics that may be anachronistic to the sound of ’90s Greek black metal, but it fits like a glove. The overall sound is a hodgepodge of black, thrash, doom, trad metal and even power metal and neoclassical metal; where the melodic bells and whistles complement the raw darkness, everything is perfectly balanced from both a compositional and execution standpoint.
However, the true strength of this record is the instrumentation and performance. Tougas is of course very skilled and talented, his previous bands and projects are a testament to that, but the way he flexes on this record is downright astounding. The big highlight is the bass; Tougas is primarily a guitarist, but on this record he really lets his bass playing take center stage while still delivering some tasty guitar soloing.
The way Tougas plays the bass and how he uses it in the music is of course a nod to Necromantia, but instead of copying that band’s distinct dual bass riffs, here the bass and the guitar switch places, with the guitar riffs serving as the main rhythm section and the bass playing the leads. From beginning to end, and even on the instrumental intro, the bass leads the music and adds a pulsing layer of depth that’s very much unique to this record, especially when we get dueling solos between the bass and the guitar. Due to both the complex songwriting and extended lengths, those instrumental breaks and passages are by and large the highest peaks of the music, and because the production has that Hellenic grit, and Tougas employs a drum machine to get the right sound, the listener has to pay attention to the strings and they stick out in the best possible way.
This record was one of the most welcome surprises of the year for me so far, and while I do have to once again bring up the downright uncanny way Tougas recreated the Greek sound of the ’90s, which won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, once you get past that sound and clichés, that’s when the music truly opens itself to the listener. Highly recommended.
4/5 Flaming Toilets ov Hell
La Grande Hérésie is out now through Productions TSO.
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