Review by Sonny for Forteresse - Métal noir québécois (2006)

I've spent the last couple of days on a Forteresse binge after discovering Thèmes pour la rébellion and being completely bowled over by it. Métal noir québécois is Forteresse's debut and was released a decade before Thèmes. The difference between the two releases isn't as big as it first appears, but there had been some significant evolution in the intervening decade. Although Thèmes had implied rawness in spades, this is a lot more directly raw from a production point of view at least. The tracks of the debut are also longer and more repetitive and are increasingly hypnotic as a result, drawing the listener into a more passive state of listening when compared to it's aggressive and energetic younger sibling. This isn't a criticism per se, as this hypnotic, passive listening experience is a feature of a lot of atmospheric black metal. Part of the genre's appeal is often that you can allow it to wash over you and sweep you along with it and had I not heard Thèmes I would probably not even have commented on it. The characteristic tremolo-led melodies are also present but I found them to be significantly less memorable than those employed on Thèmes.

Production-wise this feels light-years away from the clarity of the later release and is quite muddy-sounding - those booming drums are often virtually inaudible here, much to it's detriment. Athros' vocals are still terrific and his shrieks cut through the muddiness quite easily. I think it is worth pointing out at this point that for the debut Forteresse were only a duo and mainman Moribond handled all the instruments whilst Athros contributed lyrics and vocals, whereas by the time of Thèmes pour la rébellion they had expanded to a four-piece with the addition of drummer Fiel and second guitarist Matrak, with all four members contributing to the songwriting. I think this expansion into a full band worked very much in their favour compared with Métal noir québécois which comes off very much as a typical solo black metal effort in comparison to the later work.

Now, after spending the last two paragraphs on all this negative comparison with their later release, I am still going to claim the debut as a solid effort of raw, hypnotic atmo-black metal that should appeal to anyone who is a fan of Burzum, Paysage d'Hiver, early Ulver or Drudkh and I'm familiar enough with black metal fans' opinions to know that there will be plenty of them who will prefer the rawness of Métal noir québécois over their clearer-sounding later work. Either way, Forteresse are a quality black metal band who deserve a decent audience.