SETH — Les Blessures de l'Âme (review)

SETH — Les Blessures de l'Âme album cover Album · 1998 · Black Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Time Signature
Hymn for a vampire...

Genre: black metal

One thing that I have learned on my educational journey through the universe of black metal so far is that one of the countries with the most interesting black metal scene is France. One of the representatives of the French black metal scene is the band Seth which was formed already back in 1995. Originally released in 1998, Seth's debut was rereleased earlier this summer and enhanced with a new artwork (I like the old one better though) and two bonus tracks.

Having never heard Seth before, I did not know what to expect, but I was definitely positively surprised by the album. The seven tracks on the album (or nine tracks if you include the bonus tracks) combine the harshness of raw and aggressive black metal in the vein of Mayhem with a more melodic approach. Thus you get tremolo picking and fast (really fast!) blastbeats side by side with heavy and slow passages (and sometimes almost folk-like melodies), often accompanied by atmospheric keyboards and piano effects which sometimes generates an almost Gothic feel.

This melodic and Gothic aspect goes well together with the lyrical matter of the album which focuses on vampyrism. And, metal elitists, fear not - this is not your teen-friendly vampiric Gothic metal. The black metal aesthetics are dominant on the album and, although the production is far from lo-fi, the intensity that characterizes black metal is ubiquitous on this album. It is, however, paired with a sense of melancholic darkness, so perhaps the album even qualifies as depressive black metal... at least in terms of musical expressiveness.

In any case, Seth's "Les Blessures de l'Âme" is yet another example of the innovative spirit of French black metal and, if you like melodic black metal and even symphonic black metal that retains the intensity of the genre, then you might want to invest in the reissued version of this fine album.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

I, the Destroyer Black Metal
SVARTFJELL
Buy this album from MMA partners
A Sonication Technical Death Metal
OBSCURA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Hin helga kvöl Atmospheric Sludge Metal
SÓLSTAFIR
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Cycles of Suffering Black Metal
BURIAL OATH
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Suns of Perdition - Chapter IV: To Shadow Zion Black Metal
PANZERFAUST
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

DAWN OF REVENGE - Sanctuary [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 7 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Farewell [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 7 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Curtain of Death - [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 7 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Vengeance [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 7 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - I Need You [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 7 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed