Year: 2020
Total Time: 27:33
Label: Division Records

NEIGE MORTE comes from the depths of the French underground and specifically from Lyon where they were formed in 2009. So far, including this year’s “IIII”, they have released four full length albums and a split with THE AUSTRASIAN GOAT. The purpose of the band seems to be the creation of a psychotic and dirty sound that pierces the listener’s mind, since this is the feeling I received listening to “IIII”.

The heart of the sound of the French is Black Metal, which is enriched with several elements from Noise, Sludge and Doom. Their effort is definitely bold, and we are dealing with an album that is not aimed for the masses of extreme metal fans, as we are dealing with a very unique and difficult sound. It may have a dark atmosphere and the vocals may evoke a sense of despair, but unfortunately in the end the result is not optimum. NEIGE MORTE’s attempt to mix all these different influences leads them to sound confused and very tedious as there are times when you feel like you are hearing noise and not music.

While listening to the record, there are parts where you think your speakers be faulty, but you soon realize that NEIGE MORTE is responsible for these weird sounds. Also, the muddy production is equivalent to the music of the album and the vocals sound as if they were recorded in a basement.

The French may have had good ideas, but they didn’t succeed to pass them into their music. The album is almost 27 minutes long and I made heroic efforts to listen until the end, several times. Their attempt to create a different sound took away a lot from the quality of the compositions, which have not been given much attention and sound chaotic.

Rating: 4/10
Editor: Nikos Manousis
Related Link: NEIGE MORTE – Facebook Page