Azimut sign their first album.
Founded in Grenoble, France, the band, made up of Gregory Burille (guitar, ex-Gliesers), Matthieu Perrin (guitar, Stories Bones Tell), Jonathan Battandier (drums, ex-Gliesers), Jérémy Blanc Tailleur (machines/keyboards, Synematic), Franck Marcadon (vocals, Synapses, ex-Gliesers) and James Leonard (bass, Barús, ex-Maïeutiste), announced the release of Dans Les Méandres in 2023.
First contact is made with Desseins Illusoires, a eerie but relatively quiet track at first, that incorporates strange leads before exploding when the vocal parts join the mix. The sound also develops a very haunting oppressive edge that eventually subsides with the return of quietude on Echo Limpide, which lets airy tones darken before suddenly bursting into flames, offering the ideal ground for raw vocals and piercing leads. The slow break allows the band to reinforce the return of saturation, which leads us into Persona Non Grata and its misty touches which finally reveal atmospheric but scathing Black Metal influences, which naturally turn into wisps of sound. They come back to haunt us, however, before giving way to Au Coeur d’une Destinée Erratique, which also starts out very slowly before letting its melody gradually gain momentum before changing, and finally becoming visceral and almost painful. Douce Frénésie takes on the role of an interlude of modern keyboards and other strange noises, before the other instruments take their place again on Catharsis, which again borrows from visceral styles to develop its universe. A few plaintive clear vocals kick-start the machine, which quietly moves towards a strange noisy final before being overtaken by Euphemisms and its false quietness, which in reality shelters massive screams. The track takes advantage of the contrast again between saturated passages and clear parts, letting them intertwine before giving birth to Thanatophilia and its obvious darkness that spreads from the very first seconds. Even the « calmer » parts remain terrifying and heavy, creating a real cleavage with Palabres Enflammées, the last composition, which doesn’t hesitate to accentuate each part of its broad repertoire to combine it with others in a very rhythmic way.
Dans Les Méandres is an extremely rich album that takes the time to place each element, each riff, each cry, each change in its rhythm. Azimut‘s universe seems limitless.
80/100
