L'Homme Absurde - Belong
L'Homme Absurde come from Russia. Their name stands for "The Absurd Human" in French. Their 3rd full length album "Belong" begins with the track '0'. The first half of the song brings to mind The Cure guitar/bass melodies of their "17 Seconds" and "Faith" albums with its dark wave songwriting. In the second half of the song heavy riffs that remind of early Katatonia and Paradise Lost are used. The vocals are desperate and distorted. Each phrase is lengthy sung creating post soundscapes, but the basic drive is raw black metal.
The second track 'Rot' begins with a furious and rather noisy riff. I would call this post-black metal. At some points it brings to mind Dodheimsgard and the chaotic sound of the old Norwegian black metal. Mid tempo passages do exist. The band has nice ideas. Nevertheless, the drum machine is poorly used at parts. Its mechanic sound doesn't support well the music. There is a lack of groove in my ears in some parts.
The same title song takes advantage of the band's ability to perform nice primitive black metal. The additional second guitars add chromatics in making the song more interesting. The clear vocals when used are very nice and fit in the band's songwriting. The drums sound (and especially the cymbal) sounds not quite ok for me. I think a real drummer would uplift the whole thing. The acoustic parts are vey nice. The post hardcore influenced riffs are also great.
'Separation' has another awesome death wave melodic intro. L'Homme Absurde have a variety of influences in their more aggressive parts from post metal to black metal and early death/doom. The nice melodies of their songs are in a beautiful contrast with the distorted vocals. 'Departure''s fragile melody is new wave/post punk influenced reminding me of Joy Division. The bass drives the song through post black paths.
The basic riff of 'Burn' sounds like a mid tempo metalcore riff but it soon changes to black metal with good use of typical harmonies for the genre. The band attempts to groove, but I think the lack of drums is obvious here once again. 'Forsaken' features post hardcore breaks and desperate, raw black metal vocals.
The last song of the album 'Sanctuary' is starts like Katatonia of the recent albums only to get heavier and more desperate. The raw black metal vocals fit great with the acoustic melodies. A very atmospheric song that closes the album again with a Cure "17 Seconds", "Faith" melody.
In terms of production, the album sounds pretty much like a home recording to me, which is the way many bands work today and this is by no means bad. It's an advantage technology gives us. The band seems to be a part of an evolving Russian post-black scene, which is also very interesting. In "Belong" L'Homme Absurde have many nice ideas. Post-black metal seems to be their genre. However, post punk/dark wave and metalcore/post hardcore influences do appear. The songwriting is nice with melodies that work really well. The black vocals are way back in the mix (as if coming from a depth) to achieve a raw early black metal sound. They succeed. The clean vocals work really well in their songs. I think the band needs to work a bit more with their sound/production and use a drummer or if that's not possible try to find other drum patterns that will sound more realistic. "Belong" is an overall nice attempt and shows a band which can do really well!
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The second track 'Rot' begins with a furious and rather noisy riff. I would call this post-black metal. At some points it brings to mind Dodheimsgard and the chaotic sound of the old Norwegian black metal. Mid tempo passages do exist. The band has nice ideas. Nevertheless, the drum machine is poorly used at parts. Its mechanic sound doesn't support well the music. There is a lack of groove in my ears in some parts.
The same title song takes advantage of the band's ability to perform nice primitive black metal. The additional second guitars add chromatics in making the song more interesting. The clear vocals when used are very nice and fit in the band's songwriting. The drums sound (and especially the cymbal) sounds not quite ok for me. I think a real drummer would uplift the whole thing. The acoustic parts are vey nice. The post hardcore influenced riffs are also great.
'Separation' has another awesome death wave melodic intro. L'Homme Absurde have a variety of influences in their more aggressive parts from post metal to black metal and early death/doom. The nice melodies of their songs are in a beautiful contrast with the distorted vocals. 'Departure''s fragile melody is new wave/post punk influenced reminding me of Joy Division. The bass drives the song through post black paths.
The basic riff of 'Burn' sounds like a mid tempo metalcore riff but it soon changes to black metal with good use of typical harmonies for the genre. The band attempts to groove, but I think the lack of drums is obvious here once again. 'Forsaken' features post hardcore breaks and desperate, raw black metal vocals.
The last song of the album 'Sanctuary' is starts like Katatonia of the recent albums only to get heavier and more desperate. The raw black metal vocals fit great with the acoustic melodies. A very atmospheric song that closes the album again with a Cure "17 Seconds", "Faith" melody.
In terms of production, the album sounds pretty much like a home recording to me, which is the way many bands work today and this is by no means bad. It's an advantage technology gives us. The band seems to be a part of an evolving Russian post-black scene, which is also very interesting. In "Belong" L'Homme Absurde have many nice ideas. Post-black metal seems to be their genre. However, post punk/dark wave and metalcore/post hardcore influences do appear. The songwriting is nice with melodies that work really well. The black vocals are way back in the mix (as if coming from a depth) to achieve a raw early black metal sound. They succeed. The clean vocals work really well in their songs. I think the band needs to work a bit more with their sound/production and use a drummer or if that's not possible try to find other drum patterns that will sound more realistic. "Belong" is an overall nice attempt and shows a band which can do really well!
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1. 0
2. Rot
3. Belong
4. Separation
5. Departure
6. Burn
7. Forsaken
8. Sanctuary
2. Rot
3. Belong
4. Separation
5. Departure
6. Burn
7. Forsaken
8. Sanctuary
Self released
Reviewer: Manos Michaelides
Feb 19, 2020
Feb 19, 2020
Next review:
Colosso - Apocalypse
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