Glaciation — Sur les Falaises de Marbre

Glaciation might be known to a few of you due to having one of France’s best known metal musicians – Neige. Probably best known for leading Alcest and Amesoeurs, Neige also did a stint with Peste Noir and a handful of other bands. Since Alcest has seemingly drifted away from its black metal roots it’s nice to see him pulling vocal duties in a black metal band because he can do amazing shrieks. Glaciation is supposedly a band that’s totally against playing modern black metal – their debut was titled 1994 - but on their second album, the band has moved slightly away from the genre’s roots.

Sur les falaises de marbre is in many ways a stereotypical early 1990’s black metal album, and deliberately so. The icy, thin guitars at times bring to mind the frigid atmosphere of Setherial’s Nord… while also representing the icicle-sharp riffing of early Immortal. Lots of repetitive tremolo picking is the foundation for each track here, with a slightly depressive bent to them. There’s not much of a sense of fury on display here – instead the mood is almost melancholic. Neige’s and Hreidmarr’s vocals tear forth from the void, breaking the sometimes calm atmosphere. Underneath everything is distant blast beats, with constantly crashing cymbals that make up a lot of the high end.

But while the aim may have been early 90’s, the album also comes across as fairly modern at times. Going from old, frosty black metal tremolos to post-black metal swaths pretty frequently, the album keeps from being one dimensional. The vocals also frequently take on an almost narrative tone, spoken in French, connecting the two styles. There are also times like on “Le soleil et l'acier” where they are cleanly sung and layered like a choir of angels. Other quirky things like occasional breaks where the bass takes over to do little diversions and the reworked and broken classical music for “Cinq” also betray the album’s modernity.

As a result of these two styles, the album occasionally comes across as meandering and unfocused. Cold black metal gives way to more melancholic post-black metal sections and then come back suddenly. But for the most part, the transitions are done well enough, and each style holds up on its own. I’d say that the post-black metal sections are stronger, but there are really strong, hateful riffs like on “Kaputt” that give me pause. Another criticism to level at the album is that the production is really clear, which holds back the black metal sections. Sur les falaises de marbre isn’t without its faults, but it has some clear strengths too. The instrumentation and songwriting are clearly accomplished, and there are some really powerful moments where everything comes to a head. While the album does feel a bit awkward at times when it attempts to switch between styles, it’s certainly a powerful statement of strength from this French band and succeeds for the most part.