ALBUM REVIEW: L’Acéphale – L’Acéphale

Starting out as a solo project, L’ACÉPHALE have gradually morphed into a full band, changing their sound over the course of the last seventeen years. Blending black metal and ambient music, L’ACÉPHALE are able to perform some incredibly varied, layered and atmospheric music, really standing out from many of their contemporaries in the black metal underground. Their latest, self titled third album comes a whole decade after their second album, Stahlhartes Gehäuse, and showcases a much deeper, more diverse sound, and stands as one of their most impressive records to date.

L’ACÉPHALE kick off their self-titled offering with Sovereignty – an opening statement of intent that sets the tone for the album. Pounding drums provide a solid base on which L’ACÉPHALE build the rest of the music and the guitars are able to create a powerful sound with a strong black metal edge coupled with plenty of ethereal and airy sections. Balancing the guitars between slick, polished lead melodies with lots of precision, there’s a raw edge to Sovereignty which gives it a palpable feel, contrasting incredibly well with the overarching atmospheric elements. Rich vocals and acoustic guitars begin to make an appearance before giving way to a far more intense, grating passage, more in line with a traditional black metal offering. In Gloria In Excelsis Mihi starts off with a crystal clear acoustic guitar motif, powerful clean vocals and a few sparse electric guitar flourishes, creating a layered and dense sound right from the outset. Here we see a more subdued side of L’ACÉPHALE with acoustic guitars dominating the sound throughout coupled with hair-raising vocals. It isn’t until the last few minutes of In Gloria In Excelsis Mihi before L’ACÉPHALE deliver a fiercer, sinister approach. However, the song feels like it is building to something that it never really reaches.

Runenberg is another of the stronger moments to be found on L’Acéphale. The bulk of the song is a crawling, rhythmic march of drums, dense bass and slick lead guitar lines, where the vocals make their presence known and leave a bellicose mark on Runenberg. Again, clean guitar tones get used to break up the monotony of dark extreme metal elements, but give way to a much more energetic and frenzied section which do a great job of drawing the listener back in and making the music feel far more intense. All in, this is a magnificent song that makes use of great rhythms and melodies to make it stand out significantly from the pack. Like In Gloria In Excelsis Mihi, Hark! The Battlecry Is Ringing brings the acoustic guitars back into the sound, but the strength of the melodies peppered through makes it far stronger an less repetitive that the earlier song. A dense atmosphere is present in the background, shrouding the song with a haunting edge. This ambience works extremely well with the guitars, and the resonant vocals that mark the first half of the song, feeling like a very ritualistic, Gregorian chant as opposed to the hellish howls of black metal. As the song enters its second half, it abruptly comes alive with razor sharp distortion replacing the crisp approach of the guitars that opened this song. Hark! The Battlecry Is Ringing is another highlight moment from L’Acéphale. 

Last Will, by contrast, is a caustic, speed driven and rabid piece of black metal with enough aggression and darkness to make up for the more measured approach of Hark! The Battlecry Is Ringing. Jarring guitars, chaotic drumming and bestial, feral vocals all burst out of the speakers immediately and and set about punishing the listener. One of the shorter tracks on L’Acéphale at a balmy six-and-a-half minutes, it leaves a lasting impression, shifting into a far more reserved, ambient mid-section which sets an eerie and bleak tone carrying Last Will to it’s climax. Penultimate track, Sleep, with its dissonant piano sections and thunderous rhythms, is a massive, ferocious song that utilises sludgy guitars, primitive drums and caustic vocals to create an overpowering, expansive sound. This intensity does give way to allow some clean guitars to come into play, before launching into a final, viscous passage.

Climatic Winternacht is by far the most ambitious song on L’Acéphale, clocking in a just shy of 20 minutes. Beginning with a sharp, eerie opening motif which sets a foreboding and frightening tone right out of the gate, grabbing the listeners attention immediately. It quickly gives way to a fierce, cacophonous whirlwind of dizzying black metal riffs and tight, thunderous drumming, with gnarly, harsh vocals adding even more ferocity and bile to the mix. Shifting into a mid-tempo section with some powerful hooks and solid rhythmic chops, it’s clear that the band won’t stick with an idea for any longer than it is needed, before jumping headlong into another brilliant section which adds to the song as a whole. It’s not just a full throttle aural assault either; the music makes use of cleaner guitar tones, more prominent, bubbling bass lines and soaring, sublime vocals as well as rabid, rasping shrieks, to make sure that this song takes into account the bands full musical range, leading to a piece of music that ebbs and flows between sounds and approaches, ultimately making it as diverse and memorable as possible. Despite it’s expansive, sprawling run-time, Winternacht stands as a great song with lots of fantastic music, and closes the album on a high note.

To call this self-titled offering from L’ACÉPHALE an atmospheric black metal album is a little bit of a disservice. There’s plenty of moments that definitely fall into that category, but the ambience isn’t there for the sake of padding out the record, as is the case with many bands. Everything seems to have a purpose, and at times the album feels, as cheesy as it sound, like an experience, taking the listener on a journey and fully absorbing them in the music from the first note to the last. It’s an incredibly ambitious and powerful album, with lots of great music that all ties together seamlessly, with next to no filler at any point on the record.

Rating: 9/10

L’Acéphale is out now via Eisenwald Records. 

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