Je comes out of the shadows again.
Created in 2006 in France by e.Z.k. (guitar/vocals, Cult of Hyperion), the project that unveiled its first demo in 2010 sometimes welcomed a few live or studio musicians over the years. In 2022 and accompanied by Stéphane Jeaningros (drums) and Alexys Brun (bass), the band announces the release of Epilogue of a Tragedy, its third album.
Antithesis Convergence is the first track to make us sink into a rather melancholic atmosphere made of melodious but oppressive keyboards before the icy Black Metal strikes. The track is quite short, but it lets ghostly screams answer to heavy and sharp riffs, which are sometimes influenced by Post-Rock patterns before Crown Of Thorns And Memories takes over to reveal its chilling and haunting atmosphere. The seizing mix between raw riffs and visceral vocals, as well as keyboard hints coupled with violin are diametrically opposed, making this track a fascinating and contrasted composition which drives us to the short Days Of Nothing and its rather straightforward catchy patterns. We obviously feel the track’s melancholy, but also a more energetic approach before Below The Shades gets heavier. There are also more airy and melodious leads, like this break which will quickly give way to a new wave of saturation but also to a rather majestic and dissonant atmosphere which guides us to Plage In The Algorythm and its jerky rhythmic. The band doesn’t forget to let airy keyboards contrast the automatic martial basis to feed the sharp atmosphere, before brutally breaking it with this ghostly voice followed by unleashed screams, finally giving way to After The Rain and its heartbreaking sounds. The track’s length allows it to drown us under its darkness, its melancholy, but especially under its haunting sounds full of emotions, the band will sometimes couple with some more Prog melodies or intense voices before letting Epilogue Of A Tragedy close this album in deep sadness. The introductive sample announces it to us, but the sound will confirm it and increase it while injecting a quite Punk energy to this wave of darkness until the end.
Je is a quite singular project. Between soaring sounds and raw energy, the band has been revealing melancholy, sadness and intensity for more than fifteen years, and Epilogue of a Tragedy confirms that its creative force is far from drying up.
90/100