Have you ever wondered what early Darkthrone would sound like if they were from Québec? Not much different at all actually.
The Québécois scene is quite renowned by some of its more atmospheric forerunners like Forteresse and Cantique Lepreux. Which are heavily into creating very dense walls of sounds and atmosphere. However, Pénombre goes in a different direction and achieves its own kind of distinctive cold sound by its own devices.
Pénombre’s latest outing is a work of 90s Black Metal worship to its fullest. To the point that I almost imagined I was listening to some old lost Darkthrone demo from the ‘Panzerfaust’ days.
Even the eerie artwork used in the album wouldn’t be out of place in the mid 90s milieu, and it encapsulates perfectly the aura that the music here conveys. Angry, desolate and arrogant Black Metal that is fast and uncompromised. It’s not pretty or melodious, but the intense repetition of some motifs here and there give the song structure here some hypnotic qualities that are very fitting for this kind of Metal in specific.
Despite the whole similarity throughout the whole album, I still have to highlight the song ‘Arme Blanche’. It strikes me differently from the others for some reason and if you’re into fast and impetuous Black Metal, you’ll get a kick from this one too.
