Fall of Messiah is ready for a new chapter.
Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the French band led by Sylvain Moulin (bass/vocals), Martin Moulin (guitar/vocals), Florent Gerbault (guitar), and Pierre Bailleul (drums/vocals) is also marking the release of its fifth album, Green Lands, with Voice Of The Unheard Records, thus bringing its trilogy to a close.
We start off gently with Tour de garde, an opening track featuring welcoming and reassuring melodies that slowly intensify before suddenly taking on a rather raw, yet not overly aggressive, distortion in contrast to the vocals that emerge later on. The contrast is perfectly handled, lulling us until we transition, without even realizing it, into Il faut passer l’hiver, which naturally weaves its ethereal blend, letting the drums set the pace and provide the energetic touch that was missing from the Post-Metal-infused riffs until that explosive climax. The rest of the track slowly winds down until Tired Hands takes over gently. Here again, it’s thanks to the drums that the rhythm section ignites first, then with vocals, still somewhat distant, that ultimately choose to let the spotlight shine on the piercing, effects-laden leads that lead into Hourvari, a new track that’s quite slow and hypnotic in its opening notes. The plaintive cries return, tinging the melancholy with a certain pain, then distortion takes hold of the riffs, unleashing palpable waves of intensity that hit us full force before leaving us with the unsettling Meadows, a composition with an immediately darker atmosphere. The instruments toss us from note to note, leaving us no breathing room to catch our breath, a role instead filled by Old Traces, a stripped-down interlude of just over a minute that leads into New Paths, where we find the previous dynamic of energetic saturation, at times gripping. No lyrics, but the instrumental speaks volumes, carrying us into Petrichor, which immediately floods us with soaring and dissonant touches, followed by slightly more joyful touches in the finale, contrasting with the jerky patterns. We return to darkness with Tour de force,” a track where the band welcomes Antoine Mansion and Tommy Hampshire of Chalk Hands on vocals, as well as Fabien Verwaerde on trumpet, thereby creating an unexpected yet committed ensemble to bring their whirlwind of gloomy notes to life before A Joy of Lesser Means brings the album to a close, not without allowing us one last time to contemplate this landscape torn between shadow and light, moments of calm and waves of energy, as well as a few even more striking vocal touches.
Although I would have preferred to hear a bit more of his wailing, Fall of Messiah offers us a handful of tracks that are heavy, atmospheric, and highly expressive. Green Lands is an album best suited for fans of Screamo and Post-Hardcore, but it’s sure to be a huge hit.
75/100