Pensées Nocturnes is a one man black metal project from France that deals in the depressive side of things while combining it with a strong flavour of classical music. Vaerohn is the man behind the project and Vacuum is the debut album.

The music generally is of the depressive suicidal black metal variety but where Vacuum scores over a lot of its contemporaries is in the fact that Vaerohn incorporates pieces of classical music into the black metal that are allowed to stand alone and yet feel like an integral part of the song. Vaerohn composes long involved songs that generally flow nicely between what is essentially your typical depressive black metal mixed in with these wonderfully melancholic classical pieces. That’s the basic essence of Vacuum. Average song length is around 12 minutes and this is not music to be played in the background and forgotten. This is very well thought out and superbly arranged black metal that plays by the rules but also stretches the boundaries every now and then.

The first two songs Lune Malade and Flore set the tone with black metal sitting alongside some melancholic classical music very comfortably and these two songs are pretty much flawless. The transitions between parts, the elements of classical music and the inherent melody in these songs work beautifully together to create some very hypnotic black metal. Dés-Espoir starts off as the most aggressive song on the album before a mid-song interlude of classical music breaks things up and the music takes on a slightly chaotic note with myriad changes and instruments fighting for supremacy.

Three great songs into the album and Vacuum throws its first and only curve ball in the form of Coup de Bleus which ditches the classical background for a full fledged dive into the blues and mixes it with he black metal to create a jarring and at times just plain odd song that really doesn’t gel with the rest of the album at all. This song is just strange and for me, totally ruined the mood that was set in the first half of the album. Luckily, Epitaphe and Repas de Corbeaux round out the album in style with the music following the set template of black metal mixed with classical music. Epitaphe has a bit of welcome savagery to it while album closer Repas de Corbeaux is another lengthy and melancholic workout that ends the album on the same sad not that it began.

Vacuum is not perfect. The aforementioned trip into the blues doesn’t really work in the context of this album and Vaerohn’s vocals while going for the usual black metal rasp occasionally sound completely over the top and comical. At the same time, as far as debuts go, Vacuum is supremely impressive and Pensées Nocturnes is definitely a band to watch out for.

Label: Les Acteurs de l'Ombre Productions

Year of release: 2009