Departure Chandelier - Satan Soldier of Fortune (2024)^{Release ID: 49588}

I have been quite the fan of the Napoleonic Era-obsessed, Québécois black metal project since their debut album finally saw the light of day in 2019 after inexplicably spending almost a decade sat on the shelf. The band itself is comprised of three musicians, Crucifixus, Fanalis and Vinculum each of whose role within the band isn't disclosed, but all three are multi-instrumentalists and veterans of a dizzying number of other projects, so I doubt each has tightly defined roles within the band.

Satan Soldier of Fortune continues in the same vein as the debut, with the band laying down raw-sounding black metal riffs that still come across as remarkably melodic despite this rawness. The riffs are then overlaid with reedy-sounding synths, which are well-used as they don't swamp the riffing, despite being given equal standing to the guitar work in the mix. Production-wise this has a much more treble-y sound than the debut, which makes the riffs stand out better and gives the synths a thinner sound, thus making the whole feel just that little bit rawer than the debut. The vocals are suitably earnest and raggedly harsh, sounding heartfelt and shying away from the forced theatricality that can sometimes get a grip of black metal vocalists. The drumming is functional in the main with some decent blasting and feels perfectly placed within the mix to ensure it's presence is felt without it ever becoming over-dominant. In fact, the mixing is extremely well-handled and all the components are given suitable prominence so that the whole benefits rather than any single aspect sticking out.

It would appear that Departure Chandelier have hit on a formula for producing melodic black metal that may appeal to a wider audience, whilst still retaining the raw savagery for which the genre was known in it's earliest days. Personally, I think this is a step up from the debut, the improvement in songwriting has produced tracks that remain in the memory despite their base rawness, resulting in an album that should appeal to the most kvlt of black metal fans without alienating the more melodically-inclined.

4/5