Atmospheric French Black Metal. Second demo from 1999 reissued for the first time on CD.
4-panel digipack CD with 4-page booklet
"Les anges de la dernière scène" in English "The Angel of the Last Scene"; the "scene" being in this particular case a reference to "The last supper".
Epheles, in my opinion, is easily one of the best black metal bands out there today. The sophistication, atmosphere, and musicianship behind each release puts them above all the crap that floods the underground.
Many who have heard Epheles will say that “L'ombre de la Croix” was really the fuel that got their fire going, but I must disagree. “Les Anges de la dernière Scène“is where things really started after the solid first demo, “Dead Nature for Human Tears” was released.
In this release, Epheles follows no rules, formulas, or patterns. Nephtys and crew play fast and violently, but also allow things to slow down and throw in keys, synths, flutes, and orchestral instruments – all for the sake of preserving the atmosphere. The mood is melancholic, yet hateful, but also triumphant. The atmosphere is dark, haunting, and beautiful. No, this isn’t just some ordinary French band with poseur riffs and cliché moments. Those who hate any kind of synths and/or keys with a passion will probably enjoy this band and those who prefer atmospheric bands over those that sometimes sacrifice atmosphere to have better guitar riffs will also enjoy this band.
This demo starts off with “My Darkest Empress.” A song that begins with a dark, sad, medieval intro that is synth based. Then a furious barrage of riffs attack you until the synths come in again to give you a small break from the madness. Finally we end with a melodic outro that includes a guitar solo. As we see with later Epheles releases, the typical guitar solo at the end is a common theme with many songs and Epheles plays it off quite well. Either this track or the title track is the darkest song on the demo.
Next is “L´ombre du passé”, an absolute, epic 13 minute master piece. This introduction has a nice, melodic feel to it that keeps on progressing as the drums, then finally the vocals kick in. The combination of riffs with Nepthy’s vocals are incredible – this is especially true around 3:30 mark. Once again, there’s a short synth break in the song, but it’s not as peaceful as the “My Darkest Empress.” But this time we hear even more of Nephthys’ strong vocal skills. Vocals like Nepthys’ are everything you would ever want in a black metal band. My only problem is that for a little while in the song, there’s a part with random chants that sound pretty funny at first – but the outro more than makes up for it. This time the song ends with a beautiful 3 minute segment dominated by flutes and backed by acoustics. A very melancholic and calm atmosphere, indeed, yet also triumphant and to be more descriptive, it has a strong medieval feel to it.
“Divines Lamentations” is another long song and is a contender for best song on the demo. The melody continues, but this particular track is more haunting than the rest. Also, some clean vocals make an appearance in the beginning. It goes very well when mixed with the harsher shrieks by Nepthys. Still we have the violent riffs and the synth break in the middle. But this time it’s mostly symphonic unlike the previous two tracks which mostly used synths in the middle breaks. The atmosphere here is quite haunted and eerie. I would say this song has the most sections to it. After the first symphonic part, the melodic riffing continues, but soon enough we’re back into the more haunting atmosphere. This time, however, there are some tortured shrieks that really add to the creepiness of the song. Finally we end with the catchy introduction from before, this time with a nice lead riff.
After 3 long songs have passed, we’d probably need a break from all the chaos and evil. Luckily, Epheles doesn’t disappoint and provides a short interlude that is all synth based. The melancholy continues and only adds to the atmosphere.
Finally, we end with the title track. It starts out with some chanting, but this track is by far the fastest on the demo. Towards the end, there is some spoken word vocals mixed with the usual shrieks, some synths, and thundering drums. This creates another dark and eerie atmosphere but not like we’ve heard already.
The duration of “Les Anges de la dernière Scène” is quite lengthy, especially for a demo. Luckily, each song has something to offer, no songs fall behind in quality and there is no sign of filler. The production isn’t perfect, but it’s sufficient. I would not change anything about it because it adds to the atmosphere of the demo. Structurally, the album really has no flaws. My only gripe is that sometimes the vocals can be a little weird when "effects" happen. Nevertheless, Epheles represents all that elitism in black metal pretty well.
If you can find this demo, I’d pick it up the moment you can, but at the very least, do your ears a favor and listen to these tracks. They are worth strongly worth it. And definitely pick up the later releases if you can, too.
Sample:
