Aephanemer‘s reveries resume.

After spending some time promoting their latest album on the road, Martin Hamiche (guitar/bass/orchestrations), Marion Bascoul (guitar/vocals), and Mickaël Bonnevialle (drums) unveil their fourth album, Utopie.

The album gently opens with Échos d’un monde perdu, an enchanting two-part introduction, the first majestic and the second darker, leading us to Le Cimetière Marin, the first track where the guitars begin to express themselves through intricate harmonics. (French) Vocals join the mix, bringing a raw and aggressive touch that contrasts with the beauty of the instrumental, but the leads remain in the foreground during long passages before joining La Règle du Jeu and its intricate patterns. The neoclassical influences of the guitars are perfect for this piercing and sometimes furious track, rivaling Marion‘s roars, then the track takes on a more joyful tone on Par-delà le Mur des Siècles, once again reinforcing the intrinsic duality that persists, carried in particular by the roars and blast beats. This track also features one of the album’s quietest passages, but it is quickly shattered by violence, picked up by the keyboards, then the two combine again to join Chimère and its frenzied rhythm, which sometimes transforms into imposing riffs. Leads and orchestrations respond naturally to each other between two storms of screams, then Contrepoint takes over with its own playful approach, darkened by the power of the instrumental, while the vocalist tells us her story, sometimes combining vocals and sharp riffs in a striking race. We move on to the long instrumental La Rivière Souterraine, which begins with a slightly crazy piano, then soaring keyboards before the return of heaviness and saturation, still marked by the omnipresent technicality that is executed in several movements, then to Utopie (Part I), which gives us a brief moment of respite. It obviously doesn’t last, and transforms into an unsettling soundtrack before giving way once again to rage for an epic mix that allows for slower, more majestic passages, such as the break before the final part that leads to Utopia (Part II), where the sound is thicker, sometimes even more refined, but still possessing an arsenal of influences ranging as far as shoegaze for certain dissonant harmonics. However, the jerky rhythm of the track eventually comes to an end, and with it the album.

While their previous productions have opened many doors for them internationally, there is no doubt that Utopie takes their concept much further! Although the band chose French for this album, Aephanemer is definitely in great shape!

85/100

Version Française ?

A few questions for Martin Hamiche, founding guitarist of French Melodic Death Metal band Aephanemer, about their latest album, Utopie.

Hello, and first of all, thank you for taking the time to talk to me! Without using any style labels, such as “Melodic Death Metal” or anything else, how would you describe Aephanemer?
Martin Hamiche (guitar): Hello, and thank you very much for this interview. Aephanemer is a metal band founded in Toulouse in 2014. Our music is influenced by both 90s Scandinavian Metal and older influences, such as classical, baroque, and traditional music.

The name Aephanemer comes from the words “ephemeral” and “fade.” What does that mean to you, and how do you personally relate it to the band’s music?
Martin: These two words were chosen because they are related to the fall season, which is my favorite season. It’s a time when I feel particularly comfortable and at peace, and it symbolizes quite well the emotions I wanted to incorporate into the music when I founded the band. Between melancholy and bright colors, with a slight emphasis on the latter.

Your fourth album, Utopie, is coming out very soon. How do you feel within the band? Have you had any feedback about it yet?
Martin: We feel great, because at the time of writing, the album has already been released and we’ve received very positive feedback. It’s been quite striking compared to our previous albums. We wondered how singing in French would be perceived, even though we were fairly confident, and we’re happy to see that it’s been very well received overall.

How would you sum up Utopie in three words?
Martin: Dream. Mourning. Hope.

How did the process of composing the album Utopie go? Did you notice any changes compared to your previous productions? Did the lineup changes affect the way you create?
Martin: The process of composing Utopie was broadly the same as for previous albums. We have a very simple way of working within the band: Marion (guitar/vocals) writes all the lyrics and I compose all the music. We’re used to working this way, and the lineup changes didn’t really influence this process, as the other members have little or no involvement in the composition phase. When it comes to recording, Mickaël (drums) gets involved because I’m not a drummer, but otherwise I play all the other instruments, and Marion records all the vocals.

The band’s sound is a mix of Melodic Death Metal, Symphonic Metal, and more Neoclassical elements. How do you manage to create your own unique style?
Martin: I think it’s simply the natural blend of our influences that comes through in the music we write. We like to create in a very organic way, without deciding in advance which direction to take, but rather building the songs as the ideas come to us. It’s a bit like the songs already exist somewhere and we’re just gradually discovering them.

Which bands would you cite as your influences? How have they evolved over time to give you your current sound?
Martin: Many bands have influenced us over the years. The main influences come from Melodic Death and Black Metal bands we’ve been listening to since we were teenagers, such as Windir, Children of Bodom, In Flames, Arcturus, and Amon Amarth. There are actually many others, and these influences have evolved over time to blend with inspirations from classical music, traditional music, religious music, etc.

How did you decide on the themes addressed in the songs? How did you choose the tracks to unveil to present the album?
Martin: Marion and I decided fairly quickly to work around the theme of Utopia. It was Marion who suggested this concept to me, and it immediately inspired us both. Choosing which tracks to reveal to present the album was a little more difficult, but we finally settled on La Règle du Jeu, Le Cimetière Marin, and Contrepoint, as they seemed the most immediately accessible to us.

Utopia is the only album entirely in French. Why did you choose to return to French?
Martin: Marion made this decision fairly quickly after the release of A Dream of Wilderness, with the intuition that writing and singing in her mother tongue would allow her to be more personal and sincere. I immediately loved the idea. Quite honestly, it seemed natural and logical to return to our own language, especially since we no longer had any particular reason to continue writing in English.

I know this is a difficult question, but do you have a favorite track on this album? Or one that seemed the most natural to compose?
Martin: I think my favorite track on this album is the last one, Utopie Partie II. It was composed in a few weeks because we were behind schedule with production, so it was a pretty intense period. But we knew exactly what we wanted to express with this track, and I’m very happy with the result.

Utopie is your second album with Napalm Records. How is the collaboration with them going?
Martin: To be honest, this collaboration has mainly allowed us to see how much the contribution of labels has deteriorated over the decades. Today, almost all of the artistic, promotional, and organizational work falls on the bands, as does most of the financial risk, even though the majority of the revenue from their music no longer goes to them. I think this model persists mainly out of inertia: bands are often bound by multi-album contracts, and the general public is largely unaware of how it really works, but we don’t think it’s viable or healthy in the long term. That’s why we’re increasingly interested in independent models and direct relationships with the public.

I’ve seen you play several times in France, between Hellfest and Motocultor. How does a live show work from your point of view? Do you have any rituals or little habits before going on stage?
Martin: I may sound rather boring, but no, we don’t really have any particular rituals before going on stage.

What are Aephanemer‘s next projects?
Martin: For now, we want to promote our new album on stage and play in as many places as possible, especially in France, but not only there. And since we’re pretty slow when it comes to writing songs, we’re also going to start working on our next album little by little.

Are there any musicians or artists you would like to collaborate with in the future?
Martin: We don’t have any specific artists in mind, but we really enjoy collaborating with artists who are sincere, humble, and honest, both in their art and in the way they interact with others. Regardless of their level of success, these are the criteria that matter most to us.

Do you think you’ve improved as musicians with this album?
Martin: I think so, to a certain extent. But I feel like I speak for a lot of musicians when I say that you become more aware of what you don’t know how to do yet, rather than what you do know how to do.

Which bands do you dream of playing with? I’ll let you imagine your dream show with Aephanemer as the opening act and three other bands.

Martin: I don’t really know, because I often prefer to immerse myself in an artist’s world without rubbing shoulders with them personally. It sometimes takes away some of the magic. For me, an ideal concert would be Windir, Children of Bodom, and Nightwish. But I’m not sure I’d like Aephanemer to be on the bill; I’d prefer to remain anonymous in the audience.

Last question: what dish would you compare Aephanemer‘s music to?
Martin: I have absolutely no idea, sorry!

So that was my last question. Thank you for your time, and the last words are yours!
Martin: Thank you very much for this interview. Thanks also to our French audience, whom we hope to see again very soon. We’ll be playing in Toulouse on May 9, and the rest of the dates will be announced shortly. Have a great day, everyone.