Aldaaron - Nous Reviendrons Immortels

TRACK LISTING

1.  Intro
2.  Seigneur De L'hiver
3.  Instrumentale
4.  Nirnaeth Arnoediad Part 1
5.  Nirnaeth Arnoediad Part 2
6.  En Route Vers La Bataille
7.  Royaume
8.  Propheties

Total playing time:  47:17

August 29, 2010

Reviewer: Jesse

Epic is a word that gets thrown around a lot these days when describing bands and rarely is it ever completely accurate.  A few lengthy tracks here and there, some melodic riffing and all of a sudden, the album is being hailed as “epic.”  When it comes to Aldaaron’s debut album, Nous Reviendrons Immortels, I can’t think of a better word to describe it.  There haven’t been many other albums released this year that are more deserving of that tag than this album.  Sometimes that overused adjective fits like a glove and Aldaaron has earned it in their very first attempt.

Nous Reviendrons Immortels is a lush and darkly beautiful album surrounded by the grim and evil black metal persona.  Lush and beautiful in its stunning melodies and riffs that just pour out of the guitars like they can’t stop them from overflowing and washing over the entire album.  It’s really amazing just how many memorable riffs they managed to create in this one album and have them all follow a central theme.  By that, I don’t exactly mean that they recycle the same melodies throughout, but each song definitely carries on the character of the previous song.  The first six tracks all seem to meld together even though two of them are instrumental intros, but even so, they basically act like a bridge connecting the songs and not some artsy or noise-filled interludes.  The catchy and memorable nature of Nous Reviendrons Immortels is remarkably impressive.

At its core, it’s very reminiscent of highly melodic albums like Storm of the Light’s Bane which are also known for being very aggressive as well.  Easily forgotten when listening to this album is the extremely tight and fantastic drumming which keeps the pace brisk and lively.  As I mentioned above, the first six tracks on the album flow together so perfectly that it’s difficult to point one out specifically, but the way “Nirnaeth Arnoediad Part II” blends into “En Route Vers La Bataille” and how that song ends is just blissful.  The same riff structure from the opening track, “Seigneur De L’hiver” closes out “En Route Vers La Bataille” but it’s not identical.  It’s cut from the same cloth but the way they manage to reinvent it throughout those thirty-plus minutes is profound.

Not surprisingly however, my favorite song on the album would come after the six-track marathon.  “Royaume” opens with a great marching beat which leads the guitars into this godly thrash sequence that would make the entire crowd at one of their live shows go berserk, I’m sure of it.  It’s as if Aldaaron has so many ideas in their heads and instead of making a mismatched album, they were able to incorporate them all into the black metal frame.

It took me a while to think of how to review this album because my initial thoughts kept changing the more I listened to it.  Immediately, I kept telling myself that it can’t be as good as it sounds and there had to be something in there to pull this album back down to earth, but I could never find it.  The more I listened to Nous Reviendrons Immortels, the more I realized that I was listening to something very special and had to accept that this album is about as perfect as is possible in this genre.  Absolutely monumental.

Release Date: March 9th, 2010
Label: Paragon Records

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