Sombre Croisade "Balancier Des Âmes" CD

Traditional Black Metal from France. Sombre Croisade means Dark Crusade in French.
The band's second full-length album; a personal and emotional yet uncompromising and abrasive album to impress through its honest approach. No tricks, no gimmicks, just crude and honest Black Metal!

Sombre Croisade translates to Dark Crusade and therefore it might not come as big surprise that these lads play a quite traditional brand of black metal. The French black metal scene has become a major force and it seems that the stream of great stuff from that country will not stop anytime soon. These guys have been around for a decade and “Balancier des âmes” is their second full length album. Adrian from Loud Rage music has made a clever choice by signing them for his sub-label Pest Records where all acts that are not from Romania are released. The somewhat odd production quality gives the album a raw sound many times throughout, especially in terms of the vocal aspects. The guitar riffs found in this one aren't too complex or fast paced, but they still manage to keep a catchy tone and add to the stellar melodies accompanied by the often blast beat percussions and loud shrieks. There is some solo guitar action in certain songs, but it's never too overwhelming. However, I will say that the rhythm and the lead guitar complement each other adequately. Sharp basic chords are melted with eerie and hypnotic harmonies to create an outstanding atmosphere. Just check out the title track and its intriguing and highly addictive main theme. Overall this album like most of the work by their French peers owes a lot to the so called second wave of Scandinavian black metal. A lot of emphasis has been put on embedding moody parts to accompany the tremolo attacking and the shredding guitar tone. The French lyrics underline the obscure character of the record. Sombre Croisade have produced a fantastic example of how to put all those ingredients together to build an impressive and occult masterpiece. “Balancier des âmes” demonstrates a lot of attitude, creativity and energy and shows that Sombre Croisade can definitely hold their own in this scene. And, while the album is not necessarily perfect, it still manages to display all of its melodies, brutality, great instrumentality and several of the other factors that make it a memorable, interesting and epic release. Add one of the best cover artworks I have seen in a while to the mix and we are talking about a real winner here.

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