French black metal darlings Amesoeurs are back. This self-titled release is their first and apparently, last album, after releasing the Ruines Humaines EP. I wouldn’t be too surprised to see them reunite a couple of years down the line if not for anything but the gimmick value, because that’s how their music comes across to me: a mere gimmick.

On offer is a bland arrangement of wimpy modern rock riffs stuffed with sickeningly sweet pop melodies and a bass-drum combination that will work faster than any sleeping pill. The riffs are basically heavily diluted latter era Katatonia/Anathema riffs on repeat, which painstakingly plod forth and (mockingly) watch your boredom gradually change into vexation. And then there are the vocals. A vital factor which contributed to my dislike of the album was the female vocalist. Even the odd passage of music that may evoke a modicum of interest, is ruined by weak, whiny, pretentiously ‘artsy’ vocals that fall back on unmemorable vocal melodies and pseudo-intellectual lyrics that ‘portray a world of urban decay’ and whatnot. Neige, the architect of this project, lends his harsh vocals from time to time and is a welcome relief although his screams are too little too late to salvage the music. The only songs worth a listen are the opening instrumental, Gas In Veins which heaps ambient layers atop a mid-paced melancholic pop riff and I XIII V XIX XV V XXI XVIII XIX – IX XIX – IV V I IV (Video Girl, Gas In Veins… can anybody think of duller song names? As a word of advice, stick with French if your English is lacking – though I can’t comment on the quality of the song names titled in French), which shows a vague hint of aggression and has the strongest inclination towards black metal compared to anything else in the album.

I cannot see accustomed black metal listeners digesting this album unless they have a fetish for female vocals. Just as fellow reviewer GK had noted on his Alcest review, shoegazer music and black metal does not go together. Really, there are thousands of other albums that can genuinely instill a sense of melancholy, despair, nostalgia or anything else that this album may falsely promise to deliver. This is not worth your time unless you’re the scenester that needs to get this because everyone else has it.



Label - Code666
Year Of Release - 2009