Versatile enters the big league.
Following the release of their first EP in 2022, Hatred Salander (vocals), Famine (guitar) and Cinis (guitar) recruited Morphée (drums), signed to Les Acteurs de l’Ombre Productions and finalized their debut album, Les litanies du vide.
The album opens with the terrifying Géhenne, a theatrical introduction which matches the band’s costumes, which precipitates us into Enfant Zéro, where screams and jerky riffs appear, sometimes rather simple but powerful. Samples fuel the oppressive atmosphere, as do the French vocals with their carefully crafted lyrics, which perfectly match the rhythm’s aggressiveness, but also the false calm that comes before La Régente Blême takes her place. It savagely bludgeons us without delay with its darkness and strident harmonics, before introducing a catchy Industrial beat that leads us to the explosive final and then to the majestic Ieshara, which imposes a suffocating slowness before returning to the motivating Electro elements. The atmosphere then changes dramatically and becomes more brutal, exploding again before calming down, only for Hatred Salander‘s words to set it ablaze again with a high-pitched scream before joining Cave Canem where the riffs stomp us merrily between two samples. We note a mysterious passage where a few growls and a guitar ring out, but the band comes back to hit us one last time before giving way to Morphée, which starts off gradually but soon becomes very impressive as the vocalist vociferates. The band offers us another moment’s respite before Graisse imposes its vindictive fury with an enigmatic message, then it’s with Monstre that it crushes us while weaving its dissonance and adding orchestrations and other disturbing samples here and there. The grandiose final leads to Alter Ego, with its vivid Aggrotech influences energizing the singer’s discourse, then once this interlude is over to Le Mal Nécessaire, where sublime instrumental touches rub shoulders with a brutal jerky execution that still leaves room for a haunting solo before the final statement.
With its unique universe that meanders between shades of Industrial and Black Metal, Versatile offers us a rich and powerful album that knows how to use the strengths of each style. I’m certain that Les Litanies du Vide will deliver a stage performance worthy of their ambitions.
90/100