Aksaya "L'Aube Rouge" CD

France has not only one of the (or maybe even THE) best football teams of the world, but also a top tier extreme metal scene. Some of the most respected black metal outfits of the past years have their origin in this country, but there is also a great number of death metal combos hailing from there. The French death metal scene managed to create an own identity with a style sitting firmly between a mix of traditional European and US death metal and a slightly technical and more modern approach. Aksaya took a lot of elements from both worlds to present an explosive cocktail of hefty and captivating music. Their newest output “L’aube rouge” (released by The Ritual Productions) is listed as EP, but with a total length of 30 minutes it could also be classified as third full length.
What is the most important fact here is that Aksaya are really clever songwriters. The sequences of the various sections have been chosen in a way to make each track feel diversified yet stringent at the same time. There are classic verse-chorus parts, but also extended soloing sections. Strange sounding samples are used as well as more ambient interludes or other weird elements. In the end each song has its own character and looking at the album as a whole one really gets the feeling of a story that is told through the music. As the arrangements can get pretty complex I would recommend to consume the album in a way to not get distracted by something else during the first spin.
The riffs are hitting hard and furiously, and while it might be open for discussion if the world needs another album in this particular style the quality is out of question. The main chords have been forged with a lot of precision, with the lead guitar harmonies permanently pitched against the driving tremolo attacks, lending the whole music and ultimately uplifting character. Some of the melodic themes are fantastic, mainly underlining the black metal side of this album.
The drumming can get pretty technical and sometimes has a slightly nervous touch for bigger parts, which is quite common for French extreme metal. However, there are also a lot of sections where the drumming is more straight-forward, keeping the beat straight. In those parts the music has a fantastic groove. The combination of the blast-beat sections and the rocking mid-tempo parts is implemented with a good feeling for the flow of the album.
The vocals are fierce, with singer Chris angrily shouting French lyrics at the listener. My French has always been pretty poor back then in school, and I have not read/talked anything using this language for over 20 years, so I have no clue what the texts are all about. However, the cover artwork might give a hint that it might not be something about love or the nature. Coming with a hefty, dynamic and pretty modern production, “L’aube rouge” is not only recommended for fans of the French scene, but listeners of furious black/death metal in general.

Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...