Review by Nathan on March 27, 2022.

It's rare that I blast out a review after randomly discovering a band and hearing them once, but this is not the kind of thing that affects you in a traditional way. This hit me immediately, and right away I knew what I liked about it.

"Experimental black metal" is right - the base genre is clearly black metallesque in origin, but Idol Of Fear pull this eerie, powerful emotion out of it, stretching evocative tension every direction it can go. You can identify some influences and parallels - the lumbering creepiness is similar to later Emptiness, and the shrill dissonance and melodic phrasing has an air of cataclysmic weirdos like Plebeian Grandstand, but the way it's put together and presented hits different.

The guitars on Grave Aperture are unquestionably the star of the show, with one axe laying down a chord foundation while the lead player goes wild with distinct tremolo bends, subtle harmonies and layers, and squealing, cathartic explosions that continuously give you this release that feels like you're emptying your soul. It's like Mgla and Oranssi Pazuzu collided in a cloud of DMT and slowly merge together as their atoms simultaneously drift apart, unencumbered by the vacuum of space. The way the riffs effortlessly hop between vibes and even genres within the same melodic thread is fascinating and the only band I can think of that does a similar thing (not that they sound similar at all) is Sigh. I didn't think I would ever find a band that had the same innate ability to make the unnerving and obscure addicting to listen to, Now, Idol Of Fear is a bit more tethered to black metal than Sigh, but at the same time...they kind of aren't? I can't describe it, Just listen to 'Bereft'. What the fuck is that? Is it pop punk? is it dissoblack? is it mathcore? is it shoegaze? I have no clue, but what I do know is that it's dope as shit.

A big factor in why Grave Aperture is a rare and unique breed is how the album is paced. The drums are nearly void of any sort of blastbeats or even driving rock rhythms, preferring to linger in a fill-laden, middling speed, with a lot of cymbal play and sparse but purposeful kickwork. At first, it kind of gets on your nerves, but then once you get in the groove, every snare hit feels like a sledgehammer pounding against your chest. The handwork has just enough to keep you interested, and the lack of rolling double-kick (it's there every now and then, but it's a garnish, not the main base like it often is in black metal) creates interesting dips and swings in the songs, giving the riffs a bed while simultaneously allowing them to breathe and emanate their distinctly powerful essence. Each song is trudging and repetitious, but somehow when you put everything together it has a wider range of motion than about 90% of extreme metal out there.

Idol Of Fear's other albums are decent listens themselves, but All Sights Fixed, Ablaze is a bit less layered and realized, while the album following this has some lineup changes - no longer are there two guitarists, and with that comes a natural augmentation of the band's sound that gives a different energy. Only Grave Apertures has some kind of dark magic that makes you feel this oblique sorrow, and like it and want more of it while it's happening. This album makes it beautiful to hurt, and also, it's literally fucking free on bandcamp. You have no reason not to experience this obscure, stunning gem of black metal for yourself.

Rating: 9.2 out of 10

Review by Fernando on January 14, 2022.

France is a fascinating country when it comes to art and music, and in regard to metal music it's also all over the place, especially in black metal be it the occult and depressing sonic legacy of the Black Legions, the unsavory and controversial fringe side, and even the dissonant Avant-Garde side popularized by Deathspell Omega and Antaeus. Which brings me to Pensées Nocturnes, a Parisian act that’s even more fascinating than the previously mentioned acts. This band has been an oddball since their debut record, but with each album they seem to get weirder and weirder, both in music and presentation, and this continues to be the case with their newest opus Douce Fange, released by Les Acteurs de l'Ombre Productions.

Pensées Nocturnes, is as mentioned, an oddball musical project. The band is classified as neoclassical Avant-Garde black metal, and they certainly get very experimental and outlandish with their music, but this doesn’t show through a dissonant and complex songs, rather, this is a melting pot of all forms of classic French music, filtered through black metal and with a flair for the flamboyant. In many areas the band is playing carnival and cabaret music with some jazzy and bluesy tinges here and there, which include, baritone opera like singing, gang choirs that would feel at home at some pub, the inclusion of accordions, organs, trumpets, cellos, a saxophone, and any other instrument you can think of when you hear words like carnival music and a cabaret. While the music is very eccentric and varied throughout, one element that’s noticeable is how melancholic and even somber the actual atmosphere is despite how colorful the instrumentation is, and this is also displayed through the vocals. PN mastermind Léon Harcore’s vocal range impressively switches between harsh growls, dry and unhinged shouted vocals and deep baritone opera singing. The overall execution and the meshing of such extravagant instrumentation with what often borders on depressive black metal give the entire album an unhinged quality, which is present in every single song, and more impressively, none of the songs play the same, each is a unique experience while being uniform in the instrumentation. If you’re into straightforward black metal then this record will sound like a mess, because at no point do the songs do not include folkloric passages, samples of TV programming, accordions or organs. The overall experience gives the vibe of the urban nightlife of Paris, in all its deranged and flamboyant splendor. And at under 50 minutes, the album is a robust sit through that doesn’t overstay its welcome, nor does it rush to get to the good parts. At first glance this record does sound like pure madness, for better or worse, but what’s impressive here and what can’t be denied is the technical talent of the band, which given how massive this album is, they needed to be talented musicians, and that’s certainly the case, the guitars, bass, drums, keyboards and assorted French instruments are played with such precision and prowess that it serves as the perfect foil to the musical chaos, and if I’m allowed to blabber about philosophy, feels like what good ol’ Fred Nietczhe described as the Apollonian and Dionysian artists, those being the logical, ordered and disciplined, and the instinctual, chaotic and emotional respectively, and that’s this record in a nutshell, it's a wild yet incredibly complex experience, a perfect manifestation of chaos through order. It also makes it hard to single out individual performances because this music and technical prowess could only be achieved by the collective of artists Léon Harcore amassed playing as a unit, and if I signal Harcore is because he’s essentially the ringmaster of this demented circus.

Overall, Pensées Nocturnes continue to deliver a frenzied and somewhat melancholic experience that’s unlike anything else, mainly because of how unapologetically French the music and presentation is. The only major flaw here is really how wild it all is, black metal purists will probably hate how over-the-top this record and band is, fans of experimental music will take issue with the black metal parts of the record, and normies will most definitely be intimidated by the circus organs and accordions playing next double bass drums, tremolo picking and a madman bellowing and growling. But to those bold and twisted enough, willing to take the plunge, this one’s worth recommending.

Best tracks: 'Quel Sale Bourreau', 'Saignant Et à Poing', 'Le Tango Du Vieuloniste', 'Gnole', 'Torgnoles Et Roubignole'

Rating: 8.5 out of 10