Deûle is recharging.
For this second album, titled L’appel du vide, Elya (vocals/keyboards), Vincent (guitar), and Pierre (drums) have placed their trust in Frozen Records and Medication Time Records.
The album kicks off gently with Ophélia, a fairly long opening track that starts out minimalist before incorporating vocals into the mix, making it livelier, heavier, more dissonant, and ultimately more aggressive as screams and distortion set in, delivering a truly visceral sound. The sound ebbs and flows, like a river and its natural constraints, before shifting to the rawer L’appel du vide, the eponymous track that features a dark, almost unsettling yet highly catchy groove that rages beneath noisy, dissonant elements until it erupts, triggering unexpected jolts. The long-awaited eruption arrives and overwhelms us before giving way to the admittedly virulent but strangely more accessible Vendeurs de mort and its hazy vocals, offering an unsettling touch that I hadn’t yet encountered in the band’s work but which I really like, along with some interesting progressive passages. The finale is obviously more diffuse, allowing for a smooth transition into Danse de chiens gris, which also begins slowly, offering hazy, dreamy tones that make the mix hypnotic and make it fly by in no time. There’s a more explosive wave here, but the focus shifts to Du sucre dans le béton, which has a very Post-Rock sound, almost like the opening of a horror movie, and suddenly becomes stranger, more unpredictable, almost even Screamo when the vocalist lets loose. Virée nocturne brings a more abrasive vibe – something rawer, more aggressive, and once again visceral, yet also carefully crafted, as evidenced by the hypnotic leads and a thick, heavy sludge-inspired tone leading up to the slightly chaotic end.
Deûle’s sound is as polished as it is visceral, offering Post-Rock touches or more violent elements when needed, while the gentleness comes naturally. L’appel du vide feels like a live experience, and I hope to be able to draw that parallel very soon.
80/100