Conor Fynes 'Amesoeurs' - Amesoeurs (7/10)

Best known as a side-project of Neige from post-metal darlings Alcest, Amesoeurs is something of a blackened shoegaze supergroup, with members of Peste Noire and Empyrium coming together with Neige to create something quite nice. I am a huge fan of Alcest, and really liked the first Amesoeurs release with the EP 'Ruines Humaines', so I had high hopes for this one. Sadly, 'Amesoeurs' is not the masterpiece debut album that I hoped for at the back of my mind, but it has manages to achieve a sound of its own, which for a supergroup, is a rare achievement in itself.

Although Amesoeurs has long been labelled as a black metal band, the self-titled debut does not embrace the style completely. 'Ruines Humaines' hinted at some pretty fierce depressive black metal, but here, it is as if they decided to go in a different direction than what the EP teaser implied. Instead of being 'black metal', or even metal in general, 'Amesoeurs' might best be compared with alot of shoegaze and post-punk bands. Upbeat drum beats, melodic guitar leads and Audrey Sylvain's soft voice are about as far from black metal as mandarin oranges are from devastating oil spills in the Pacific Ocean(?) Regardless, for those craving a harder edged sound, there are some faster-paced sections that verge on the tremolo picking of black metal, although things rarely get any heavier than Alcest's work with 'Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde'.

Amesoeurs definitely feels like the work of a couple of musicians who each have their own ideas of what they want the band to be. This results in a shift between graciously mid-tempo tunes, more upbeat post-punk parts, and the occasional return to the black metal sound of 'Ruines Humaines'. Whoever wanted Amesoeurs to go the mellow route seems to have prevailed however, because this album favours the lighter side more than anything else. 'Video Girl' and 'La Reine Trayeuse' emphasize an almost-ballad sound to the music, where Audrey's voice takes over with some melancholic melodies and distinctively French lyrics. The execution of 'Amesoeurs' is impressively consistent from the black metal elements to their lightest segments, but the way they approach this dynamic does not sit well with me. Amesoeurs have a strong sound to them, but the lean towards slower songs can lead the album to get a little more tedious than it should have been. Of course, 'Amesoeurs' should not be approached as a metal album, and as long as one isn't expecting a dark black metal record a la Peste Noire, there is impressive beauty to digest here.

UMUR "Ruines Humaines" is the debut release by French post black metal act Amesoeurs. "Ruines Humaines" is a 3 track EP with a 15:59 minutes long playing time. The EP is available in no less than four different versions. A normal jewel case CD version, a digipack CD version limited to 333 hand-numbered copies, a 10" vinyl version on while vinyl limited to 220 copies and a 10" vinyl version on black vinyl limited to 800 copies. "Ruines Humaines" was released through Northern Silence Productions in October 2006.

While rooted in atmospheric post black metal, the music on the EP also features lots of shoegaze elements. Especially the closing track on the EP titled "Faiblesse Des Sens", which features female vocals by Audrey Sylvain (Peste Noire), reminds me of acts like My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive. The two remaining tracks feature some harsh black metal type vocals by Neige while still maintaining the shoegaze element.

The sound production is a bit lo-fi but otherwise suits the music well and all in all Amesoeurs are off to a pretty good start with "Ruines Humaines". It´s not an EP that blows me away but it´s of a decent quality and a 2.5 - 3 star (55%) rating is warranted.

Conor Fynes 'Ruines Humaines' - Amesoeurs (6/10)

To anyone already familiar with the work of black metal and shoegaze artist Alcest, it shouldnt come as much of a surprise hearing this that the mastermind behind Alcest also fronts Amesoeurs. To those unfamiliar with Alcest or even the genre at all, this is not a typical sound for black metal. Despite having the inhuman screams, and eerily melodic yet heavy guitars, Amesoeurs seems to be working on a bit of a different wavelength that many other people working within the genre wouldn't think of checking out.

While I myself am a fan of black metal in many of it's forms, this stands out from alot of the other musicians that delve into this extreme sub-genre. All too many black metal bands get caught up in the cultural aesthetic of the scene, and trying to appear more 'evil' than their contemporaries. Amesoeurs brushes these archetypes aside and writes without compromising; unafraid of crossing over to other genres that seem fargone. The first two tracks show what I believe Amesoeur's trademark sound and style to be; black metal with a well-heard influence from the indie and post-rock scene thrown in. While the types of people that indie music attracts aren't the sort you would typically see at a Behemoth or Emperor concert, the musical meld of styles works very well, giving a beautiful vibe to mix in with the abrasive vocals.

The screaming vocals definately get the right vibe across, but they come across as being a bit screechy and immature at times. The third track 'Faiblesse Des Sens' actually does away with alot of the metallic image and even goes as far as being a melodically-driven track with female vocals. This EP certainly leaves me wanting more Amesoeurs, and while there isn't alot of material here, it certainly shows that this band is onto something unique.