Silhouette crafted their debut album in the shadows.
Two years after their first EP, the Montpellier-based band comprising Achlys (guitar), Ondine (vocals, ex-Bovary), Yharnam (vocals, Glumurphonel), Grise (bass), Zhand (drums, Eternal Hunt) and Vyartha (guitar) unveil Les Dires de l’Âme on Antiq Records.
The softness of L’Appel bewitches us without delay, aided by soaring notes and Ondine‘s calm vocals, while the darkness becomes increasingly present, until the lyrical final becomes disturbing. The saturation appears from the very first moments of Catalepsie, whether in the throbbing rhythm or Yharnam‘s desperate howls, which make the contrast even more intense and heartbreaking, but the track is imbued with a residual melancholy that runs through to Dialecte Onirique, where the chilling leads grow. The riffs are also more impressive, providing a perfect refuge for the two tortured voices while making the composition as suffocating as it is fascinating, while the explosive Silhouette surprises us with its virulent explosion. The sound is torn between violence and beauty, anchoring itself in the striking tones that emerge in waves, before returning to an airy softness on Adoubée des étoiles, which leaves the singer alone with the instrumental, gradually returning to its dark tones. Les Dires de l’Âme flares up again, letting itself be battered by the latent aggression that goes so far as to make some of Ondine‘s vocal parts threatening alongside the cries of her comrade, and the guitar of Olivier Dubuc (Maudits, Zëlot). One might have thought that the track would calm down on the finale, but it doesn’t, just as on Une lame éprise where the sound is immediately massive, throwing us into this thick fog of pure oppression, which only temporarily frees us on the break. The violin of Raphaël Verguin (In Cauda Venenum, Psygnosis) gives Litanie contre la peur its anguished touches, contrasting with the brutality displayed by the musicians, but they finally allow us a moment of floating with the introduction of Dysthymie. Hypnotic Post-Metal-oriented patterns are found on this new composition led by Ondine, but Black Metal reappears with ease when Yharnam returns to the charge, blending the two atmospheres before L’Éveil brings back keyboards and orchestrations for a grandiose finale led by the young lady.
The intensity of Silhouette builds with Les Dires de l’Âme, creating a veil of darkness that is gripping when the band decides to devote itself to melodies, and suffocating during the aggressive passages. The band had set themselves apart with a very good first draft, but their progress is impressive.
95/100