Darvulia – L’Alliance Des Venins
Here we have an album that simultaneously ejaculates with impunity upon the miserable faces of those whoring sisters: trend and conformity! Darvulia play simple, ugly and tuneless Black Metal which is highly effective and replayable with a certain unique ‘je ne sais quoi’. It makes for an uneasy listen that’ll make your head hurt then pin you down without the option of submission, and it’ll rape your senses more harshly with every play.
The first song begins with a pretty bog-standard arrangement that made me think this was gonna be okay, but nothing special. However, after a few moments we are subjected to a weird disjointed little sideshow riff devoid of any bass. It sounds dark and emaciated but is a seriously good way to lure the listener in. When the main riff, with a thunderous bass-line, burst upon me with all the force and gruesome stench of a week-old sun-baked corpse, I instantly knew this was my sort of Black Metal.
The guitars resemble fucked up air raid sirens, while the vocalist barks out orders for everyone to hammer spikes up their own nostrils. It’s pretty basic music but sounds fucking brilliant. The last few minutes of the track are a continuous loop of a sinister riff that conjures images and thoughts of bad trips and too much acid. In contrast to the opening four minutes, the tempo is slow but it retains much of the eerie wraith-like undercurrent.
‘Monotones Conjurations’ goes way beyond its title and showcases the magnificent individuality of Darvulia’s musical thought train. This is probably one of the hardest songs I have had to review – you have to hear it to believe it. It keeps you guessing and is one of those tracks that’ll have you pressing the repeat button furiously to drink in its madness over and over. Kobal’s vocals are superb and prove that French can be an utterly grim and disgusting match for any of the Scandinavian tongues.
‘Le Manoir Aux Cadavers D’Enfants’ again, begins with some strange shattered guitaring, perfectly random, as if played by a corpse child. Once it becomes more high-pitched, this soundscape of pure insanity continues unabated. By this point I felt like I was trapped and my head was being well and truly stoved in. It was… and I was loving it! Experimental raw Black Metal shouldn’t work on paper, but here it does so with immense results.
The next track is every bit as unrelenting, de-tuned and fucked up. They must have sprayed the whole studio with a full bottle of Eau de Undead before commencing recording. It must be said that Darvulia have crafted one of those styles totally unique to themselves that raises them way above the middle of the pack. It is a grey void of musical creation that is punctuated occasionally by a few splashes of uncomfortable melody.
‘Toolkrh Belladone’ defies everything! A ritualistic style drum beat, no bass, and scraping guitars set to a slow pace with necro vocals. Simplistic, yet billowing an evil atmosphere, they delve into what I can only describe as Black Metal Unplugged! I’ve never heard anything like it.
As the final track surges forward you can imagine them playing away with all the gusto of some Necropolis concert violinists: heads jerking from side to side and viciously sawing at their instruments with well-oiled bows made from the finest human ivory. Alongside soul-piercing vocals and fractured melodies, it makes a fitting finale for one of the most original and enjoyable albums I have heard in a long time.
How long has it been since a really good Black Metal release from Brazil? Unforetelling Philosophism by Regnum Umbra Ignis was the last that I’m aware of. That was 2005! This was released in 2008. Anyway, thanks to a timely request sent to the Hell Furnace labs for analysis we have one. With the disturbing [...]
Grab your old SS uniforms, smack down those infantry helmets and slip into your paratrooper boots. Oh yeah, and don’t forget your fucking Nebelwerfer! I’ve listened to tons of NSBM recently and to be totally honest 99% of it has been shite. Focusing on hate propaganda under the guise of extremely dire music it has [...]
Eau de Undead haha.. this is very promising, I just hate their completely stupid name, I thought at first that you’re reviewing gothic shit.. good find, the french scene is the best these days..