Woest doesn’t want you.
However, after six years away from the studio, the band composed of Torve (vocals, Filthy Charity), Wÿntër Arvn (guitar, ex-Aorlhac), Malemort (guitar, Filthy Charity), and Lazharus (bass, Tarask, Jouissance Morbide) is back with their second album, Vomir à Outrance, released by Source Atone Records.
The band asked Daemonicreator (Corpus Diavolis) for some composing and programming.
The album begins with a rather long, dark and noisy introduction, from which a few more concrete elements occasionally emerge, followed by Dionysiaque, which features the first real vocals accompanying haunting riffs and a more minimalist industrial rhythm section. The mix is quite unusual, covering everything with a kind of suffocating veil until a sample that is strange to say the least, but which allows us to pause before the band resurfaces to lead us to Sous-Sol, which is much shorter but also much more aggressive. There are still moments of calm but also of anxiety when the rhythm calms down, as well as a passage where the two atmospheres blend together under a haunting clear vocal before letting L’Humiliation dans le Sang impose its more Old School and wild approach, retaining the catchy beat. We find that scathing Black Metal sound again, but also the icy dissonant touches before returning to a more imposing sound on Les Déchets de l’Âme, which envelops us in a quasi-torpor where the vocals are initially quite slow, then ultimately as violent as on the previous track, while retaining the heavy Industrial vibe. We move on to the eponymous track, Vomir à Outrance, which shows us an even more raw aggression—particularly in terms of its half-nihilistic, half-melancholic lyrics—combined with an oppressive dissonance barely tempered by the break and the falsely sweet backing vocals. If, once the track is over, you were expecting a respite, Déterminé à puer la merde will destroy your hopes by anchoring itself in both vocal and rhythmic fury, sometimes abusing cybernetic tones as on the long, mysterious break that leads to a new wave of suffocating darkness. A “Hail Satan” marks the end of the track before the strangely unifying Brûler, which fully embraces its virulent punk roots as well as its most disturbing dark sounds, transforming the song into a veritable vortex of anxiety in various forms, some faster than others, but Ode à la Pluie offers us a real moment of respite. The intriguing vocal sample reigns supreme for a while with its pessimistic message, then the vocalist takes over, screaming like a possessed man before letting the sample take over again, the two alternating as best they can in this haunting, decadent dance, finally reaching a certain fragility before the downpour, which lasts another minute on Hidden Track, a sort of outro where we gradually reconnect with reality.
Very inaccessible, but at the same time very raw and brutal, Vomir à Outrance is not an album like any other. Woest doesn’t give a damn whether you like it or not, he just needs to vent his bile on the world, no matter who pays the price.
95/100
A few questions for Torve, vocalist of the Industrial Black Metal band Woest, about the release of their second album, Vomir à Outrance.
Hello, and first of all, thank you for taking the time to talk to me! Without using any style labels such as “Industrial,” “Black Metal,” or anything else, how would you describe the band Woest?
Torve (vocals): That’s a good question, because personally, I’m not very interested in labels, especially in the subgenres of Black Metal, which quickly become ridiculous. So inevitably, we do it because we like it, but we also like electronic atmospheres, EBM, Techno. The aim is to offer a more down-to-earth and urban immersion. The vocals and lyrics, in French, are also highlighted on this album. So how would we describe ourselves… As a hybrid and iconoclastic project, on the psychiatric side of the force, where everyone brings their own touch. There isn’t really a conductor, it’s a lot of arrangements.
Where does the name Woest come from? What does it mean and how do you personally relate it to the band’s music?
Torve: It comes from the first demo, which was themed around Conan, or at least the vision of its author, Robert E. Howard, which was an aesthetic slap in the face in my youth. Woest means “wild” in Frankish, in the sense of “outside of civilization,” similar to “barbarian.” And the Cimmerians, Conan’s people, are inspired by the Franks. So there you have it. It doesn’t have much to do with what we do today, but it sounds good. And we still have that slightly free, untamable attitude, a little outside the norm, so it still has meaning.
Your second album, Vomir à Outrance (French for “overvomit”, ed.), is coming out very soon. How do you feel within the band? Have you had any feedback about it yet?
Torve: We’re feeling our way, we’ll see. I think it could make an impact, or it could be a flop. It’s pretty Punk, and for me, Black Metal is Punk, at least in the sense that it seeks to provoke something that not everyone likes. It’s a scene full of cognitive dissonance: it allows for both hyper-strange and avant-garde creations, and yet it’s filled with gatekeepers who can’t seem to let go of the caricature of the style. The result is that there’s really something for everyone, from flashes of brilliance to hackneyed concepts from posers, or even the so-called “Post” scene, which was interesting at first but has become a gateway to the mainstream. Personally, we’re more into niche stuff by freaks who aren’t quite right in the head. So we have to get past the gatekeepers to reach the ears of curious people, perhaps outside this scene. In short, we don’t really give a shit about Kevin Nargaroth. So far, the feedback has been good and everyone is encouraging us, but hey, those are our friends, and I’ve already seen a couple of judgmental comments on social media, like “it’s not Black Metal,” “it’s not dark enough,” etc. And that’s fine if those people see it that way, for us it’s a good sign.
How would you sum up Vomir à Outrance in three words?
Torve: Sadness, anger, doubt… Depression? Haha.
How did the process of composing the album Vomir à Outrance go? The band hadn’t recorded anything for six years. Did you notice any changes compared to your previous productions? What made you decide to go back into the studio and record again?
Torve: Personally, I don’t think it’s really the same band anymore, we’ve really taken a different direction. It’s the first time I’ve been really satisfied with what we’re doing: it’s sincere, it suits us better. Initially, the core of the band was Malemort (guitar) and me. We’re a bunch of clowns with lots of ideas but little technical skill. Since then, Lazharus (bass) has taken over, and recently Wÿntër Ärvn, who is a great guitarist and keeps the black flame alive. We’ve managed to surround ourselves with talented people, and in six years, there have been a lot of lineup changes, and we’re much more in tune with the identity we have for the band now. We’re in Marseille, you know, musicians aren’t exactly a dime a dozen, and on top of that, we have this mindset… If you’re not a little crazy or broke, it’s going to be hard to hang out with us. Plus, we’re slackers, we’re slow. This album was made slowly, with hindsight, moments of boredom, but also intense creativity, always DIY. We never had a schedule, we don’t care, we followed our own rhythm with the ups and downs of life.
The band’s sound blends raw Black Metal with oppressive Industrial influences. How do you manage to create your own unique style?
Torve: It’s like cooking, like a puzzle, with old ideas, last-minute stuff, often the magic of chance, and above all the talent of Daemonicreator, Mr. Corpus Diavolis, who managed to arrange it all. He alone accounts for 50% of the work. In short, it’s been a somewhat disordered creative journey, where we’ve made sure not to leave anyone’s ideas by the wayside. It allowed us to painstakingly develop our own style, and now that we have a distinctive identity, we have to persevere in this direction. It’s rewarding when all the members of the group find a real means of expression in a common concept. Now we have to reuse the formula without falling into a caricature of ourselves.
Which bands would you cite as your influences? How have they evolved over time to give you your current sound?
Torve: Pwaaah… The jukebox question. I don’t know if our influences have evolved, let’s just say that we’ve moved away from wanting to do something orthodox and theatrical, it’s a bit more confrontational and nasty. I’m thinking of the classics Mayhem and Abigor, for the strident and surgical side of the guitars, which make you want to stick scalpels into things. Then, of course, there’s Diapsiquir for the Industrial, tormented, lyrical side. I’m not going to mention Mysticum, Black Lodge, Neo Inferno 262, Alien Deviant Circus… We like them, but we’re not really competing in that arena either. Otherwise, Aborym, a huge reference for all of us. For writing, Virûs, the greatest rapper of all time in my opinion. His poetry, very dark and sophisticated, has always fascinated me since his debut. He’s a fucking genius, I rank him among my number one artists.
I notice a rather crude and virulent language, how did you decide on the themes addressed in the songs? How did you choose which tracks to release to promote the album?
Torve: I didn’t decide anything, it just happened naturally, a bit like automatic writing. The words have to have punch. I mentioned Virûs, but personally, I’ve always listened to a lot of French Punk, with its bluntness. I’m thinking of Caméra Silens, Paris Violence, the early Béru (Béruriers Noirs, ed.)… Music by street kids who beat the pavement, in short. I like French vocals in Rock, and I like that Black Metal has followed this tradition. Basically, I had a writing urge at a certain point in my life. I’ve been through some tough times in recent years that everyone has experienced or will experience: death and grief. At that point, you don’t have time to wear masks anymore, you’re comfortable in your solitude, despite those around you, and what you’re looking for is light, in peace or in less healthy things. And it was in trying to move forward that I was confronted with depression more than ever before. I wanted to get out of my comfort zone. As a result, the lyrics are virulent, cryptic; they seek to express this moment of transition, between lucid detachment and existential cataclysms. I think it can speak to those concerned, in a subtle way. I also think of Nirvana’s writing, disjointed and abstract, which accompanied my adolescence: it spoke to me in a sensitive way. If I can make certain people feel that way, it’s a success for me, and I’ll tell them, “Take care of yourselves.”
I know it’s a difficult question, but do you have a favorite song on this album? Or one that felt most natural to compose?
Torve: Ode à la Pluie. For the others, it’s the most boring to play, but for me it’s where I give the most of myself. The vocals on this track… it’s a scream that feels good in my body, it flows naturally. And yet it’s the most negative track, and it shouldn’t be misinterpreted. It features lyrics by Chaval, a cartoonist who committed suicide in 1968, narrated by Piéplu, the voice of the Shadoks. I was a fan of the Shadoks when I was a kid, and this sample is a way for me to connect the dots between childhood innocence and adult despair. In music, it feels good to talk about it: it’s the most delicate form of exposure in the world.
Vomir à Outrance is being released by Source Atone Records. How did you get in touch with them and how is the collaboration going?
Torve: We did three shows with Demande à la Poussière a few years ago, when Krys was singing at the time, and we became friends. I had also worked with Source Atone Records as a graphic designer on some records. So there you go, nothing complicated. The collaboration is cool, can’t wait to see what happens when this damn album finally comes out.
Unfortunately, I’ve never seen you play live. What’s a Woest concert like from your perspective? The band has already announced that it will be playing with Borgne in Paris in March 2026. How are you preparing for this concert?
Torve: We’re touring with Borgne, but the dates haven’t all been announced yet. It’s cool, because Borgne is definitely a reference for us. It’s a bit too far away for us to prepare, so I imagine we’ll be stressed out, but in any case, we’ve worked hard on our stage design: projections of film sequences ranging from body horror to surrealism to porn; screens everywhere showing weird stuff, epileptic effects… In short, it’s unpleasant and nightmarish. We like the stage: the goal is to make the audience feel uncomfortable. We’re not here to party too much either. You have to throw up at the end.
What are Woest‘s next projects after the album’s release?
Torve: Vaguely, an EP: two fairly long tracks, maybe something just thrown onto the internet, to figure out how to move forward. The theme would be amok, about a guy who goes on a mass killing spree and ends up shooting himself. It’s a subject that fascinates me, and I’d like to tackle it without moralizing or complacency. It’s a difficult task… There’s been no shortage of examples in recent years, haha.
Are there any musicians or artists you’d like to collaborate with in the future?
Torve: We haven’t really thought about it… We’ll see, it’s the kind of thing that happens naturally when you share the stage. We need to make a name for ourselves a little more before we can start knocking on other doors.
Do you think you’ve improved as musicians with this album?
Torve: Yes, definitely. We’ve gone from mediocre to not bad.
Which bands do you dream of playing with? I’ll let you imagine your dream date with Woest as the opening act and three other bands.
Torve: Burzum, Darkthrone, Blut aus Nord.
Last question: what dish would you compare Woest‘s music to?
Torve: Shit soup.
So that was my last question. Thank you for your time, and last words are yours.
Torve: Big kisses to everyone, but especially to you! Preorder, give your money, buy seven T-shirts for the whole week, don’t be dirty. And above all, glory to Satan!