Galibot is reborn.
After making a name for themselves with their debut album in 2024, the band from Hauts-de-France, composed of Diffamie (vocals), Thomas Deffrasnes (guitar/vocals), Clément Joly (bass), and Robin Grabmann (drums), has undergone a makeover and, in collaboration with Les Acteurs de l’Ombre Productions, presents its new version, Euch’mau Noir bis.
Having missed it when it was first released, I have decided to treat the album as a new release and will not be comparing it with previous recordings.
The band kicks off the album with Les galibots, an evocatively named introduction (“galibot” is the name given to child miners in northern France) that quickly builds tension with sampled vocals and a few touches of keyboard before darkness descends without warning on Cheval de fosse, the first track, which quickly unleashes furious riffs and visceral screams. Melancholic and piercing harmonics soften certain passages or reinforce others, clashing with the screams before moving on to Courrières, another track with a frantic rhythm that doesn’t hesitate to resort to sudden bursts to maintain its desperate energy as well as its contagious and oppressive darkness. The abrasive tones give way to a certain dissonance before a final burst, then Barbara takes over and offers us her dark veil that sublimates an Old School basis while striking leads and screams are at work, offering a duality that is as melodious as it is aggressive. The clear vocals are surprising on the final, then Les nords plunges us into a torrent of violence where screams reign over virulent and extremely unifying patterns, alternating pure brutality with more jerky passages, as if to rival the heady harmonics. We continue with Terre d’euch mau, a heavier and more haunting track that plays on alternating vocal parts to bring a more aggressive element to the monotony evoked by the lyrics and reinforced by the lead guitar. The track is long and was supposed to close the album after one last rocky wave, but here it is followed by Le Galibot, another mysterious sample, then by Schlamms, a virulent and incisive composition from their demo with an icy and uncompromising atmosphere that knows how to be majestic, using keyboards to accentuate this aspect, but which ends a little too soon.
From a trio in composition, the band has now become a quartet in recording, and a quintet in live performance, and its power has increased tenfold. Galibot sings of its lands, its tragedies, but also its rage on Euch’mau Noir bis, and although the theme is unusual, it sticks to them with a coal-black darkness.
90/100