TRACK LISTING

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1.  Nuit de Neige
2.  The Sign of Bahrrecht
      Lotharingen Black
3.  My Last Sunrise
4.  Ode à Undredal
5.  Eizenfaust
6.  Towards the Unconquerable
     Platforms Built by Wind
7.  Frozen by Demon
8.  Sous une Pluie d’Etoiles
9.  Le Trois sources
10.  I was Born

Total playing time:  40:27

Release Date: Sept. 25, 2011
Label: Ketzer Records

Bahrrecht - Nuit de Neige

Reviewer: Chris

December 14, 2011

What gets me through the sadness of all of this boring current black metal is when a band comes along and plays no games and offers no plasticity right at the get-go. Bahrrecht unleashes a furious and bloody attack on the senses with Nuit de Neige, providing a true blackened feeling within the confines of this terrific album. I don’t know what happened to the Norwegian black metal movement, but I’ll tell you this - it seems to have found a home in France these days.

As hard as I am on modern black metal on whichever wave they claim it to be on now, the medium has proven to me that it has some really good bands still breathing life into beleaguered lungs. As I mentioned, France seems to be the epicenter of that movement in recent months, and Bahrrecht is no exception. While unleashing the dark and malevolent mire we’ve come to expect from true black metal bands, Nuit de Neige transcends the banality of pedestrian bands attempting to cash in on the notoriety attached to the movement and carves small, painful markings into the psyche with a caustic and brash effort. The infernal essence and austere aura are just two of the pieces to the larger puzzle here; the sinister feel of the music is as foreboding and shadowy as it gets without giving way to total imitation or obvious transparency.

The songs are fast, often tumultuous pieces that find structure a familiar friend and sadism a willing bedfellow; “Towards the Unconquerable Platforms Built by Wind” gets my vote for black metal track of the month so far with its unabashed delivery of evil and tempestuous venom. Yes, the vocals are a familiar raspy effort, but when you anticipate and expect nothing else you’re not wholly surprised or disappointed. In fact, they work just fine here and anything else would have been superfluous and given way to the mundane. I love how some classical influences creep into many black metal bands’ repertoire, especially with “Le Trois Sources”, a short and influential piece that is both an unexpected break in the movement and pleasant respite from the chaos we’re entranced with. I truly feel this band might be one to watch for in the coming months; they may find an underground dwelling that makes a few ripples in the ocean that is dark heavy metal.

It’s certainly difficult to try and find a current black metal outfit that doesn’t rely solely on the achievements of past masters; I also understand how difficult a feat this can be when everything done before you has been perfected and, subsequently, raped of all integral pregnancy. That said, listening to Bahrrecht’s first full effort will hopefully set you on the path to Satan in the most glorious of ways. With a production not perfect to the ears of the sonically-trained among us, the overall design is one that keeps the true nature of the music homogenous and spirited.