Ahh..
Horror Metal! Don't you just love it? Shut up! Of course you do! Dude,
it's like this perfect combination of, like, Horror and, ya know... Metal!
Even when sung in French with operatic female vocals it never fails to
impress me. This ghoulish platter can definitely count itself among the
rarest Canadian Metal releases, whose availability is steadily spiraling
itself downwards into negative infinity.
"Alright, it's scary
and expensive, so what. Is it really any good?" you wonder. Hell
yeah! Although like many of the other bands of the genre, they're an acquired
taste. I've mentioned the rather unconventional vocals. Add to that a
rather 'rumbling' rehearsal-room(cave?) production and music which at
first listening sprawls out in far too many directions than is comfortable
on the MLP-format. The upside with the raw production is that the guitars
sound brutal as bloody hell, almost Death Metal-like, but not in a downtuned
and muddy sort of way (think mid-80's demo-days DM). This is especially
notable in the opening "Richard Coeur de Fer", where the lead
riff sound more like some remorseless, bonecrushing, medieval warmachine
than any form of musical entity. Combined with the quirky chorus it makes
for a great, attention-grabbing opener. "Trop Fort" is the undisputed
highlight of the album though. An incredibly intense cut with roaring,
powerful, almost dominant leads after leads that doesn't leave you with
one second to catch your breath. If you don't love this song, you simply
are not Metal. (Sorry if I had to be the one to break it to you): Their
rendition of Grieg's "Hall Of The Mountain King" ("Caverne
du Roi") is wonderfully pompous and over-dramatic in a way that only
an 80's underground Metal band could get away with, and it's a hell of
a lot more inventive than SAVATAGE's usage of the same piece, mostly thanx
to Ginette's chanting vocals acting like a 4th instrument in this semi-instrumental
cut. The end result sound very ritualistic and very, very Horror Metal.
I guess here's where they bring out the coffins and resurrect the vampires
in their live set. With "Chevalier Blanc" they go all-out instrumental,
and in 4 parts no less. There's probably a story behind the titles, most
likely inspired from some long-forgotten, foreboding tome. It begins rather
odd, in a twangy, VOIVOD-on-surfboards kinda mood. Then comes a drum-solo
which is a total waste of time coz 'Peau Rouge' isn't exactly a genious
behind the drums. No, strike that. Drum-solos are a waste of time under
any circumstances. The proggy parts aren't that exciting either. Conclusion:
a filler.
So, it's very all-over-the-place as said, and you're kinda left wondering
exactly who the hell these people were and what they were trying to do.
Needless to say, a full-length album would have been preferred. Still
I find it important to point out that "Resürrection" is
a lot more genuinely metallic than I first perceived after reading some
other opinions on it in lists and on the web. I was kinda worried it would
turn out to be some oddball Goth-crossover affair, but luckily that wasn't
the case. TROP FEROSS were all-out, bloodstained, steel-plated METAL -
violently original, hauntingly dark and ferociously heavy.
Originally written in German. Translate to:
Wirklich schwierig zu finden ist dieses obskure Teil aus Kanada. Eins Vorweg, wer nicht auf französischen Gesang steht, braucht gar nicht erst weiter zu lesen. Alle Anderen dürfen gespannt sein, was sie erwartet. 4 Songs werden geboten, von denen aber leider nur 2 Gesang vorweisen. Die anderen sind "Caverne Du Roi" von Grieg und "Chevalier Blanc", ein fast 8 minütiges Instrumental. Die Interpretation von Grieg ist sehr gelungen und hat eine sehr krankhafte Atmosphäre, was vor allem an der Sängerin liegt, die die Melodie mitsingt. "Chevalier Blanc" ist recht unnötig. Der Song ist zwar nicht schlecht, das auf keinen Fall, aber ist halt recht langgezogen und läßt eine klare Linie vermissen. Würde dieses Lied jedoch fehlen, ginge die MLP doch arg kurz, darum will ich mich gar nicht weiter beschweren. Jetzt zu den beiden Songs, die von der sehr charismatischen Stimme der Sängerin geprägt sind. "Richard Coeur De Fer" und "Trop Fort" sind sehr ungewöhnliche Metal Songs, was zum einen an der recht harten Spielweise und zum anderen, an der sehr hohen und fast psychotischen Stimme von Ginette Provost liegt. Klassiker sind diese beiden Songs zwar nicht (können sie eigentlich aus o.g. Gründen auch gar nicht werden), aber mir gefallen sie sehr gut. Gerade die Mixtur aus sehr harten Gitarren und der krassen Stimme macht die Musik unheimlich interessant. Man muß jedoch die Lieder öfters hören, um Zugang zu ihnen zu bekommen. Mir persönlich gefallen jedoch Platten, die nicht so konform klingen, darum finde ich, daß auch TROP FEROSS etwas ganz besonderes sind und Aufmerksamkeit verdienen. Bringt ihnen jetzt leider nichts mehr...