La Breiche — Le Mal Des Ardents
Cinematic in tone, Le Mal Des Ardents aims to tackle the fears and paranoia surrounding witchcraft in archaic Europe. Making use of traditional instruments, La Breiche adds an authenticity that greatly adds to the gravity of the recording. Flowing through seven tracks, Le Mal Des Ardents mixes these traditional instruments with light, modern, dark ambient styling. This approach sees La Breiche at their creative and highly evocative best. However, this cinematic style often lends itself to overindulgence. The chanting vocals, while more likely proper for the period in which this album represents, often feel hokey and break the seriousness put forth by the engaging music. Thankfully, though, there are far more elements of primal dread and fear of the local unknown than there are distracting outbursts. Beginning with the eponymous track and lightly drifting through the dirty, medieval forests to the closer, "L'Antre Du Pesteux," Le Mal Des Ardents starts on the surface in a very human world, and eventually descends into the underworld to a place that those not possessing magic cannot dwell. Their use of modern equipment to capture these otherworldly tones works well against the grounding sounds of traditional instrumentation, and this tonal juxtaposition furthers the dichotomies that La Breiche introduces on Le Mal Des Ardents.
Like a glimpse back into an uncertain time, La Breiche's debut, Le Mal Des Ardents, captures the unease of the unknown. Technology will come along and help remove some fears, but it's nature is inherent and persistent. Whether old or new, some things are unshakable from the human condition. La Breiche does well in capturing this fear with their interesting use of sonic juxtaposition