Trëma lives on.
One year after the release of his debut album in 2022, musician Disheol (vocals/all instruments) collaborates with L’Ordalie Noire to announce the release of Volutes Oniriques, his new EP.
Note that the EP comes in a physical version in the form of an envelope with a wax seal. To my knowledge, this is unique, and already proves the musician’s commitment.
Animal‘s melodious and melancholic opening notes begin to bewitch us, before fading away to a piercing howl, revealing a thicker, Old School-sounding rhythm section. Leads bring a heady and almost epic dimension to this haunting basis populated by a variety of misty vocal interventions, shifting from desperate cries to dark words before letting the rage express itself once more, finally placing soothing riffs that lead us to Les Rêves De l’Alb-Atroce, the next composition, which anchors itself in a ponderous slowness to develop its darkness. The tortured rhythm remains under the sign of the most intense melancholy, while the mournful laments in the background gradually transform into airy, reassuring choruses before becoming much more threatening as the riffs once again ignite, revealing their most aggressive and raw roots. The wave of hatred is followed by intoxicating Shoegaze influences that lead into Onirisme and its brief diphonic singing introduction, but fury quickly takes over again and floods us with this dissonant surge before letting it subside and then giving free rein to its madness as the diversified vocal parts once again fly around us, guiding us to this highly contrasting final.
While remaining rooted in visceral and seizing Black Metal, Trëma diversifies by intensifying its Shoegaze influences or surprising us with unexpected vocal parts. Volutes Oniriques is as devastating as unpredictable.
90/100
A few questions with Disheol, the brain behind Trëma.
Hello, and thank you for your time! How would you introduce the band Trëma without using the usual musical style labels?
Disheol (all instruments/vocals): Trëma is a project born in April 2022, following a number of personal disillusions. The project is therefore imbued with all the hatred and sadness that literally took hold of me during this period. It took that moment when I absolutely had not to run away from the shadows that had been tormenting me for so long, but on the contrary, to let them take over all my thoughts and devour me. Trëma is what best represents me, without any social artifice, the part I mostly hide in my daily life, which I love because it’s my source of creation, but which I hate just as much because it’s a real torment. Trëma also represents the duality in all of us, mixing softness and coldness, anger and sadness, which are at once antagonistic and twin emotions. It also represents hope and inevitability. But also a return to the primal, seeking the meaning of an emotion so profound that no words can define it, which is in itself a contradiction since Trëma attempts to do so (yet another form of duality).
Volutes Oniriques, your new EP, has just been released. Have you had any feedback on it yet?
Disheol: Volutes Oniriques is quite special, as it acts as a transition between the album released at the end of June 2022 and the sequel that’s just starting to take shape. A path is slowly taking shape, blending everything that A l’Aurore Du Crépuscule dealt with with a more dreamlike, esoteric notion. This is linked to the current state of my feelings. It’s quite strange to compose, record and release an album. I devote almost all my time to it, and it’s almost as if I’m indulging in automatic writing, never really feeling that I’m the author of it all. As for the initial feedback, it’s generally positive, although I can’t really convince myself of that!
How would you sum Volutes Oniriques up in three words?
Disheol: Past, Present, Future
Volutes Oniriques comes out a year after your debut album, A L’aurore Du Crépuscule. Did you notice any changes or evolutions in your creative process?
Disheol: The creative process hasn’t really changed, it’s still just one of many, letting yourself be invaded, without knowing what. There’s a bit more research on the new tracks, like a more assumed part of those communications I’d like to have with what’s lurking all around us. But I’m still too rational, and I think I’ll stay that way. But I love the atmosphere that floats through esotericism. That feeling of hypnosis, transcending the body to a strange peace. Sage pushing the soul into a dreamlike volute…
What’s the concept behind this EP?
Disheol: The idea came from the fact that Les Rêves De L’Alb-Atroce was going to be lost. Due to a very down-to-earth problem (a hard disk problem), I had no trace of the track other than an mp3. By some miracle, mastering master Pierrick Noël managed to sublimate it. In short, I didn’t want to lose this piece that’s so close to my heart. However, I couldn’t see myself putting it on the next album. Onirisme is much more recent, and will probably be reworked for a future version. It’s a draft of the next album, for which I’m putting a lot of pressure on myself. I’m especially afraid of recycling myself and turning Trëma into a parody of Trëma.
I know it’s a difficult question, but do you have a favorite track on this EP? Or the one that came most naturally to you?
Disheol: Yes, that’s a tough question. What you have to understand is that, even though I’m the author, I don’t consider these tracks to be my own. I don’t feel like I’m the author. So, when I listened to the EP, I really listened to it as I would listen to any album, from beginning to end, in one go. The tracks don’t really exist, they’re more chapters in a more global work. Now, if I had to force it, I’d say it’s Les Rêves De L’Alb-Atroce that gives me the chills. The vocals are spectral, the guitars closer to traditional DSBM with a hint of Doom and Atmospheric. But it’s the lyrics that really get to me, and I won’t go on about them here – listeners can make up their own minds.
While A L’aurore Du Crépuscule was an independent release, you collaborated with the label L’Ordalie Noire for the release of Volutes Oniriques. How did this collaboration go?
Disheol: While only having few contacts, being in a very dark period, with a desire to prove myself I don’t know what, I did indeed release the first album independently. At least on Bandcamp. But the fact remains that this album isn’t quite finished yet. Trëma is a musical, textual, philosophical and visual project. The last part was missing. So I set out to find a label that could participate in its physical release. I was looking for a label that was human, passionate and close to home (I’m sick and tired of falling for long-winded ringtones and/or digital menus). I needed to have people to talk to, someone capable of pushing me and trusting me more than I was capable of. I heard about L’Ordalie Noire, newly born. I had a first contact by email with the president Matthieu and after two short weeks, he came back to me. They obviously liked the project. I went on to meet some extraordinary people! Glënn, Manon, Kratos, Eva, Gaël and Jô from Newsalem. They gave me carte blanche and didn’t interfere in the creative process, which is essential for me, as Trëma couldn’t be Trëma if I made concessions. They act as guides, putting forward ideas, and I’m free to accept or reject them. Apart from that, they’re really passionate about music and everything that surrounds it. You can really feel it, and I thank them for everything they bring to me and to the underground scene. A great label in the making!
Has having the support of the label changed anything in the way you work?
Disheol: Not really, because as I said, L’Ordalie gives me total freedom. They do, however, allow me to push myself and see things in bigger terms than I would have felt capable of on my own. They support me and that’s what I really need.
Do you already have any plans for the future of Trëma? Is a move to live music (with possible session musicians) an option for you?
Disheol: It’s more than conceivable, since we’re currently working on it. We’ve been rehearsing for 6 months now, and we’ll soon be ready. But I don’t want to rush the performances. I’ve met some great musicians. We’re all looking forward to presenting Trëma on stage, which will take on a whole new dimension.
How did you discover the world of Black Metal, and what do you consider to be the essential album of this style?
Disheol: I discovered Black Metal in high school, but my soul probably wasn’t mature enough to understand the whole Black Metal dimension. Then I came to it little by little, attracted by the aura that emanates from it, going from discovery to discovery, with a feeling of answers to a kind of emptiness. Finally, I met a guy at university with whom I became buddies, and this idiot decided to share an album with me that made me sink a little further. An album I refused to listen to right away for the same reasons I refused to listen to Black Metal in the first place. But I was similarly attracted by this even darker aura. An aura so dark that it made Black Metal seem almost colorful. It’s Death Pierce Me by Silencer.
As far as Trëma‘s style is concerned, we have quite Old School Atmospheric influences, but also more recent Blackgaze/Post-Black elements. How do you balance your influences?
Disheol: I can’t really say, because I compose quite erratically. I start with a riff and see what comes next. As I go along, layers start to emerge, all the while respecting the basic premise. I’m not going to lie, I’m ULTRA influenced by Alcest, Amesoeurs and the whole scene revolving around Neige, who is one of the greatest Black composers in France. Sometimes I even discovered much later, sometimes even years later, that Neige was in this or that band. I’m thinking in particular of Amesoeurs and Lantlôs… I’m also deeply inspired by DSBM, which was a kind of impenetrable wall at the start. I try not to think about it too much, though, because I’m really afraid of just copying and pasting, of Trëma being just another project, all with the same sound and so on… I’m thinking in particular of the very Pagan era in Metal at one time. All the bands had the same sound…
Are there any musicians or artists you’d like to collaborate with in the future?
Disheol: Oooh yes! I’m especially thinking about Spellbound (Aorlhac, Jours Pâles), Neige (Alcest) of course, and Thomas Terreur (Regarde Les Hommes Tomber). But I must confess I have a dream: to collaborate with the two masters of Quebec Metal Noir, Annatar and Icare (Sombres Forêts, Miserere Luminis)!
When and how did you start playing guitar? What about singing, and playing other instruments?
Disheol: I started playing guitar quite late, I must have been 13 (thanks for the slap by the way, laughs). I very quickly turned to improvising riffs, to very aerial sounds. Some videos should never be seen again! As for singing, I started a little later, when I discovered Black Metal music, but back then, like today, I didn’t really have the opportunity to practice. It has to be said that this type of singing has a slight tendency to shock some people. The problem is that music is a drug from which I’ve tried to wean myself, but it’s impossible. I was forced to give it up for several years due to a lack of financial means. I had to sell everything. Years later, I was still feeling the effects of withdrawal.
Which bands would you like to play with? I’ll let you imagine a date with Trëma as opener, and three other bands.
Disheol: There are many, but clearly, opening for a night headlined by Miserere Luminis would be incredible. Then there’d be Hecate, a wonderful French band that’s too little known (but I recently learned that they’re no longer performing), and finally Shining. Even if it’s a complex case, Niklas remains one of my main inspirations and Shining has never disappointed me live!
That was my last question, so thank you for your availability, last words are yours!
Disheol: I sincerely hope that Trëma will at least make you feel something, some lost or forgotten emotion. We look forward to seeing you on stage to share all this together. I’d like to thank L’Ordalie again for the incredible job they’ve done, and I’d like to thank you as well for allowing me to express myself.