ALBUM REVIEW: Le Déclin – Ataraxie

Doom metal is naturally a mournful genre, its very creation rooted in the downtuned riffs, trudging pace and ‘what is this and why is it happening to me’ lyrical themes of its very earliest anthems like BLACK SABBATH and ELECTRIC FUNERAL. Part of the genre’s appeal lies in its bleakness, the feeling that at its best it acts a soundtrack to the end of everything, the sound of the endless void swallowing us at last.

In many ways, the sub-genre of death doom only accentuates that feeling. The elements of death metal tend not to add the things you might expect; aggression, speed, brutality (although sometimes they absolutely do). Instead, you are left with something even more horrific. If doom is the sound of the void slowly and inevitably approaching through time and space, then death doom adds the viscera of a million souls howling in pain as that void tears them away from everything they have ever known.

For nearly a quarter of a century, French veterans ATARAXIE have proven themselves masters of the death doom genre despite only releasing four full-length albums in that time. New album Le Déclin follows on from 2019’s incredibly powerful Resignes and should be absolutely lapped up by fans of the band, the genre and challenging, heavy music in general. As with its predecessor, Le Déclin is spread across four mountainous tracks that feel more like musical movements in a larger piece than they do individual songs.

Opening with the title track, the clean but bleakly hypnotic picked guitar intro will instantly let you know where things are heading. Slowly, drums and more guitars join this funereal procession, then spoken word vocals continue building a tension that finally – after nearly five minutes – breaks into a lumbering colossus of doom riffs and bowel-destroying guttural vocals. There is a very old-school doom and death metal vibe to proceedings throughout the rest of this opening song and this is no surprise given that band founder and bassist/vocalist Jonathan Thery largely takes his musical influences from the 90s, particularly the early doom of British bands like MY DYING BRIDE and CATHEDRAL.

Despite leaning heavily into these influences, though, Le Déclin doesn’t feel generic at all. The structure of the songs, the power of the bands triple guitar attack (Hugo Gaspar, Julien Payan and Frederic Patte-Brasseur work brilliantly together here) and just the crushing horror of it all give the record – perhaps ironically – a real energy and freshness that is so often missing in modern doom. The frequent contrasts between light and shade help with this too, as there is beauty among the darkness, particularly on second track, the 22 minute epic Vomisseurs De Vide. The switch from sparse, echoing passages to full on death metal fury in this song are perfectly measured and really showcase the band’s musical and songwriting talents.  

There is every chance listeners may be put off by the song lengths but those of you able and willing to experience this album as a musical journey in its entirety are really in for a treat. It may not be an album you’ll be breaking our night after night, such is the weight it carries, but when you do you just know you’ll be instantly pulled into its murky waters.

Bands like STRIGOI, CIVEROUS and OLDEST SEA have done some amazing things with death doom over the past twelve months and while ATARAXIE may not be quite as progressive as those bands in their approach to the genre, Le Déclin certainly deserves to be nestled among the most powerful recent death doom releases. It’s a fantastic example of classic influences coming together to create something horrifically new and powerful and should provide a perfect soundtrack to the coming Winter for all fans of bleak and haunting music.

Rating: 8/10

Le Déclin is out now via Ardua Music/Weird Truth Productions.

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