Two French bands uniting under the split release format here. Both have been explored by this writer in the past so I kind of knew what to expect. Fast tremolo picking, raging swarms of blackness and a harrowing, hollering vocal stance is pretty much congruent throughout both artists.

Time Lurker are up first and the work of Mick, something I commented on making a refreshing change to the normal adopted monikers of those practitioners of the musical black arts. His debut self-released album of 2017 was the last heard from him and here we get two tracks ‘No One Is Real’ and ‘Instable Night. After just a smidgeon of ambient set-up to get the atmosphere peaking we plummet into a harsh environment, depth charged into a multi-layered assault of burgeoning darkness. The density is hard to fathom as the work of just one person and Mick makes a right old lonesome racket. Perhaps a little too much on the tumultuous side for real melody to break through and also as far as the vocals are concerned the howling mire makes you question if actual words are being formed here rather than just unholy shrieks. Things doom down a bit towards the end of the track and a bit of gloomy definition is added to things and as it all tails out one can’t help questioning if it has gone a little bit post-black rather than in more of a true and atmospheric sense. The second number is rattled out at a skull-crunching tumult and drives away angry and aggressive as it billows out. Banshee like screams rise from the depths and a sense of grave rot and tomb mould pervade. I probably prefer this number to the other, there’s something quite demonic about it and I feel like I can hear Amityville like flies faintly in the distance till the final barrage cleaves to the end and silence falls once more.

Not that it lasts long as it is the turn of Cepheide next. Last encountered via their Respire EP in 2015, I seem to have missed the Parisian duo’s debut album Saudade a couple of years later. ‘Lucide’ is a bit of a gargantuan listen here running at a full 19 minutes and has some interesting mellow strains at the beginning, again building gradually rather than dropping straight in. Once it does it is a ground-zero flattening and all bets on surviving the shelling are off. Again lyrical content is questionable, things are vocally formed but are background to the tracks abrasive nature and anything further is lost and no doubt French anyway. Is the track about Lucid dreaming perhaps? Well it is certainly a nightmarish sound and one you would possibly want to waken from and if it went on in this nature for the full length it might be a bit much to take. Luckily it doesn’t and suddenly downs tools for a dreamy floating soundscape allowing some grace and a breathing space before raging back in again. Retaining a nasty and even spiteful edge it stabs and slashes away until the inclusion of some feminine spoken word parts cast a depressive and intriguing pall over proceedings. Both these works have depth and substance to them but do take quite a few listens to get beneath the surface, I guess that’s a good thing though as who once their dose of blackness to be immediate and formulaic. Weather the storm via the links below.

(7.5 / 10 Pete Woods)  

https://www.facebook.com/timelurker

https://www.facebook.com/cepheide

https://ladlo.bandcamp.com/album/split-6