Review by Michael on January 9, 2024.

Sans-Visage and his black metal band Prieuré released the first full-length album Le Départ (Altare Productions) after having released a couple of EPs and splits in the past. This album is a huge step forward. Not because of the style which is kept in a very nice balance between pretty rough and melodic parts but mainly because of the very clean and well-produced sound.In the past the sound was much more demo-like but here you get the feeling that the faceless entity had a bigger budget to produce his music.

But not only the sound is much better than on the previous releases but also the songwriting is more sophisticated than before. The breaks in the songs are timed really well and 'L'homélie Du Crapaud' is a very good example how Sans-Visage switches between really raw black metal parts and atmospheric intermezzos. You get the impression that the music was well thought out from the beginning to the end. Talking about the black metal style, well, it is sometimes quite dissonant, hectic and peppered here and there with some punkish riffs and I would say that the French language which is screamed out with a lot of hate matches it all perfectly to stretch out this hasty and uncomfortable atmosphere. But the groovy parts with some real amazing tempo changes are the other facet in the more metal side of Le Départ which makes the album a really interesting thing. Combined together, this is a pretty challenging album which sometimes makes you feel pretty uneasy and uncomfortable because there isn't too much space to rest or calm down. When Sans-Visage unsettling vocals set in, you often get a certain feeling of desperation and restlessness.

There is always action in the five songs (plus intro) and the music always appears to be driven by some unstoppable dark force that wants to be expressed. But the album needs to be explored, this isn't an easy listening black metal experience like the last Immortal or whatever. This is challenging and sometimes hard to comprehend but once you get it, the album will grip you by the balls and won't let you get away so easily. Just take your time. It is like a good bottle of red wine (why do I always use the metaphor of red wine when I write about this band??) that has to age to develop its good taste.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Michael on January 9, 2024.

Sans-Visage and his black metal band Prieuré released the first full-length album Le Départ (Altare Productions) after having released a couple of EPs and splits in the past. This album is a huge step forward. Not because of the style which is kept in a very nice balance between pretty rough and melodic parts but mainly because of the very clean and well-produced sound.In the past the sound was much more demo-like but here you get the feeling that the faceless entity had a bigger budget to produce his music.

But not only the sound is much better than on the previous releases but also the songwriting is more sophisticated than before. The breaks in the songs are timed really well and 'L'homélie Du Crapaud' is a very good example how Sans-Visage switches between really raw black metal parts and atmospheric intermezzos. You get the impression that the music was well thought out from the beginning to the end. Talking about the black metal style, well, it is sometimes quite dissonant, hectic and peppered here and there with some punkish riffs and I would say that the French language which is screamed out with a lot of hate matches it all perfectly to stretch out this hasty and uncomfortable atmosphere. But the groovy parts with some real amazing tempo changes are the other facet in the more metal side of Le Départ which makes the album a really interesting thing. Combined together, this is a pretty challenging album which sometimes makes you feel pretty uneasy and uncomfortable because there isn't too much space to rest or calm down. When Sans-Visage unsettling vocals set in, you often get a certain feeling of desperation and restlessness.

There is always action in the five songs (plus intro) and the music always appears to be driven by some unstoppable dark force that wants to be expressed. But the album needs to be explored, this isn't an easy listening black metal experience like the last Immortal or whatever. This is challenging and sometimes hard to comprehend but once you get it, the album will grip you by the balls and won't let you get away so easily. Just take your time. It is like a good bottle of red wine (why do I always use the metaphor of red wine when I write about this band??) that has to age to develop its good taste.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Michael on January 9, 2024.

Sans-Visage and his black metal band Prieuré released the first full-length album Le Départ (Altare Productions) after having released a couple of EPs and splits in the past. This album is a huge step forward. Not because of the style which is kept in a very nice balance between pretty rough and melodic parts but mainly because of the very clean and well-produced sound.In the past the sound was much more demo-like but here you get the feeling that the faceless entity had a bigger budget to produce his music.

But not only the sound is much better than on the previous releases but also the songwriting is more sophisticated than before. The breaks in the songs are timed really well and 'L'homélie Du Crapaud' is a very good example how Sans-Visage switches between really raw black metal parts and atmospheric intermezzos. You get the impression that the music was well thought out from the beginning to the end. Talking about the black metal style, well, it is sometimes quite dissonant, hectic and peppered here and there with some punkish riffs and I would say that the French language which is screamed out with a lot of hate matches it all perfectly to stretch out this hasty and uncomfortable atmosphere. But the groovy parts with some real amazing tempo changes are the other facet in the more metal side of Le Départ which makes the album a really interesting thing. Combined together, this is a pretty challenging album which sometimes makes you feel pretty uneasy and uncomfortable because there isn't too much space to rest or calm down. When Sans-Visage unsettling vocals set in, you often get a certain feeling of desperation and restlessness.

There is always action in the five songs (plus intro) and the music always appears to be driven by some unstoppable dark force that wants to be expressed. But the album needs to be explored, this isn't an easy listening black metal experience like the last Immortal or whatever. This is challenging and sometimes hard to comprehend but once you get it, the album will grip you by the balls and won't let you get away so easily. Just take your time. It is like a good bottle of red wine (why do I always use the metaphor of red wine when I write about this band??) that has to age to develop its good taste.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Alex on December 6, 2020.

From a soup of mental disorientation, Mortiferum sprung Altar of Decay and man did they do some significant damage in the underworld of things. Word got out quick and that demo sold like crack in the 70's. Two years later we were hit with Disgorged from Psychotic Depths, an album that did what many debuting bands fail to do after putting out a killer demo, and that's following up their embryonic discipline with an entry that would either show strong comparisons to or top their first moment of glory. Hyperdontia on the other side of the cognitive sewer were able to follow up their obelisk being "Abhorrence Veil with Nexus of Teeth". Though not possessing the same ugly production as on "Abhorrence Veil", it did manage to retain the primality of the Danish sect also involved with Undergang.

It would only be a matter of time before both Hyperdontia and Mortiferum crossed paths given the acclaim both have managed to garner in such short periods of time, and with everyone's eyes veering into the undersoil of metal, these two bands have used this time to capitalize with their seven inch split. Two tracks widening the rotten cavity of death metal, the first being handled by Mortiferum ('Abhorrent Genesis') and the act of finality being spearheaded by Hyperdontia ('Punctured Soul'). What can I say besides I wish it was longer. As though having not a hindrance and unaffected by the fuckload of this year's dung, both these bands bring something to the table that we all will remember for eternity.

Like shadows playing with each other in the dark, both Mortiferum and Hyperdontia present the listener with something condemningly and repulsively romantic. The artwork compliments of Chase once again provides the listener with a view into the serpentine thoughts captured and nurtured through some twisted death metal man-handling by both bands. From the stretching doom preceded by the eerie synth and carnal crush of 'Abhorrent Genesis' to the punishing thump of 'Punctured Soul', you begin to realize why these bands are at the top of everyone's thoughts in underground death metal. Like flesh blood and rotting matter merged together, this split is disgusting yet all the while attractive to the nomadic osdm junkie. Out through Carbonized Records December 7th, 2020 on 7' vinyl and digitally.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10