ABDUCTION: Jehanne (BLACK METAL): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

We tend to forget it nowadays but black metal was originally driven by a fierce desire to revolt against conformism. But, like all other genres, it too ended up being sclerosed by rules, codes, so many invariants, often immutable, that emptied it of its substance. In this context, it is pleasant to look at Abduction, a band that certainly shapes an art that can be described as black, but which has the intelligence, increasingly rare, not to unpack all the usual paraphernalia.

As a corollary of this freedom, the group does not belong to any of those chapels that have been nibbling away at the genre for many years. Dark and tumultuous, their music puts the emphasis above all on atmospheres and emotions, of which the multiplicity of vocal lines and the primacy of acoustic parts are the most obvious assets. The quartet cultivates its singularity by drawing its artworks from our pictorial heritage and even more so by breaking with the deadly and hateful themes that are generally in vogue. The past, history inspires her, as illustrated by "Jehanne", a conceptual work based on the life of Joan of Arc, a mystical heroine who never ceases to fascinate and whose destiny, conducive to epic tales, gives a great deal of room to mysteries and enigmas.

Abduction signs, according to his habits, a chiaroscuro album. The few flaws in "Une ombre Régit les Ombres" seem far away now. In full possession of its means, the band led by the guitarist Guillaume Fleury impresses by a complex writing that does not break the beautiful fluidity. Poetic and passionate, "Jehanne" is lived like an epic that punctuates historical episodes ('La Chevauchée de la Loire', 'Aux Marches de Lorraine'...). Between high feats of arms and submission to God, Joan of Arc's trajectory dictates to the French a more and more evolutionary and bruised art.

Within each composition, conceived as a painting where details abound, entangle desperate clear singing and tragic growls, acoustic breaths and impetuous adventures, without ever giving the impression of a rough assembly. The soothed passages shear a fiery plot with a taste of blood and devotion. One can never underline enough the diversified power that François Blanc is capable of, who, between Angellore's "Rien ne devait mourir" and this third offering of Abduction, imposes himself as a great storyteller. At his side, the three other musicians build a cathedral with buttresses both tender and massive, ideally enhanced by the work of Déhà behind the console.

With great accuracy, the band captures the soul of Joan Of Arc. One can guess all along the attention to detail, born of long documentary research. More than a simple album, it is ultimately a historical fresco, both powerful and intimate, that the group transmits to us. - Official website

ABDUCTION

JEHANNE

FINISTERIAN DEAD END

BLACK METAL