Bizarre Black Metal Madness - "La Chaise-Dyable" Review (61%)
Constancy has never been the strength of legendary French black metal band Peste Noire, who have created some of the genre's best and worst releases.
The band itself is somewhat of an enigma. Its frontman Famine has almost done it all, from the atmospheric debut, to the bone grindingly raw Folkfuck Folie, to the epic neoclassical dirges of Ballade, to the thrashy and industrial Ordure à l'État Pur, to eventually now what I can only describe as 'crazy black metal'.
The only way to describe his take on black metal is 'unique'.
After many years of media celebrity in the relatively insular French black scene, where Peste Noire shares the spotlight with the more popular yet much less interesting Antekhrist, Famine has returned with another black metal album, this time titled 'La Chaise-Dyable'.
So what can be found on Peste Noire's latest effort? A lot of random, to be honest.
The only traits that La Chaise-Dyable has in common with any of the previous Peste Noire albums, or any other black metal album really, is the huge amount of crazy vitriol ever present throughout the course of their career. From borrowing various works from French poets to renaming your own city in an act of 'Satanic devotion', there is something that will never change with Peste Noire: the intense and humourous shock-value destined as much to shock as to provide context for the music.
While La Chaise-Dyable is obviously no Memento Mori, it's nonetheless a titanic effort by one of France's best - the best? considering Antekhrist's decision to turn into Satyricon? - that deserve a proper review of both its strengths and its flaws.
Bizarre Black Metal Madness
The first song 'Avant le putsch' is humourous at best and cringe-worthy at worst.
We hear some animal sounds from rural France before a harmonious acoustic guitar sets in. So far, so good but then we get to hear a random electric guitar interlude that just doesn't fit in at all.
The vocals are equally misplaced. They start in a raw but clean way but then annoying barking growls - the type popularized by Warkvlt on Bestial War Metal - kick in, and they sound completely out of place and tone.
The lyrics are also relatively random and narrate the tale of a man who is masturbating while listening to his farm animals and commenting on a potential revolution that might bring back the ancient order of French nobility, or something.
On the other side, some tracks on La Chaise-Dyable are much more coherent and even manage to build up an amazing atmosphere.
'Le Diable Existe' is probably the best song on the record. The story is cut into four epic parts, which all transition seemlessly to culminate in a climax of epic, albeit slightly ruined by Famine's decision to start rapping for some reason.
'À la Chaise-Dyable' is also an interesting effort, somewhat in the vein of something Absurd would have attempted on their earlier albums. The discordant riffs fit in well with the rhythmic sections and, as the song goes on, rhythm orientated parts that almost recall jazz elements, dystopian progressive metal riffs and a few upbeat black metal parts create a diversified maelstrom of darkness that remains intense despite a length rivaling that of some of Hvis Lyset Tar Oss' most ambitious tracks.
Overall, this is some bizarre black metal from Peste Noire.
There is no other word to describe La Chaise-Dyable.
La Chaise-Dyable score: 61/100.
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