Doing a site like this one, I get asked for recommendations of bands and or records to seek out. People hilariously think I know shit. Anyway, I usually can rattle a few off the top of my head of metal or heavy music I think might resonate with them. A few questions later, I can determine whether or not I want to freak them out.
French black metal confounders Non Serviam very likely would not be a name that comes out of my mouth, a strange thing to say about a band I’m about to praise. Calling them black metal isn’t even entirely right as they blend so many elements from other sub-genres, but it’s closest I can get. On their mind-shredding new record “La Lune Dont Mon Âme Est Pleine” (roughly translates to “The Moon That Fills My Soul”), the duo of Void and Moon gain inspiration from the tale of Diana and Actaeon, covering attraction, violence, and sorrow, the aftermath often too bloody to handle. As for this record, every track is its own beast, entirely different from what surrounds it, making each demon its own entity. It easily can terrify and send less delicate ears fleeing. The rest of us will be happy to indulge.
“La Lune dont mon âme est pleine – Part II” burns in, electro pulses frying brainwaves, howls gurgling as noise corrodes. Sound clips warp as howls spatter, the strangeness ending in acid. “Déesse morte” has a strange guitar wash and an almost chambery approach, the singing numbing as keys flutter and chime. The fog thickens as the swirling attack dizzies, calm gives may to mania, and an eruption leaves bodily gashes no salve can sooth. “Emile Henry” is about the French anarchist, and the track rains blades in a mechanical black metal storm, blistering as the hellish attack keeps growing more intense. Sounds infect and swirl as keys murmur, and the chaos spits nails again, choking and blazing as mental fry sets in deeply. “Victory To Kali” features vocals from M. Kawashima of the legendary Sigh, and it’s a battle with a monster, shrieks peeling paint off walls, mangling with crazed ferocity. The playing drives harder as the cries feel like they’re coming from a person in a boiling cauldron, a sense of calm injected suddenly.
“La Valse des enfants morts” enters amid cooling keys, and then the howls erupt, sending everything into a tizzy, mystical notes chilling, murderous screams taunting. Keys add an odd bit of humidity as clouds warp, everything slowing to a frigid end. “Everything About You” dawns, and instantly it’s vicious, clawing at eyes, the keys dancing in rain clouds, the guitars teasing before ratcheting up the tense vibes, making everything very uncomfortable, zapping into oblivion. “Actéon” opens with a clip from “Gen V,” specifically from Marie Moreau (“You’re fucked up … I’m fucked up …”) and it basks in haze as howls and whispers team up, your head feeling like it’s swimming in Vaseline. The vocals sicken as the guitars soar, ending in a buzzing flood. “Abject sacrifice” sinks into melting guitars, a female voice haunting, the weather worsening as screams erupt. The pace is blistering, voices spiraling as guitars trickle down your back, throbbing as the savagery peaks, slipping into a frosty sheath. Closer “La Lune dont mon âme est pleine – Part III” builds off the opener, chilling, a female voice soothing nerves, howls crumbling over top that, melodies obscured in filth. There is a stretch that is moody and gothy, the drums plaster as screams waylay, bleeding blackness and, all of a sudden, horns attack and instantly leave. The filth thickens as the torment mounts, dissolving into a dreamy void.
Non Serviam are tough to classify and just as difficult to feel comfort around, but that undoubtedly is the point. “La Lune Dont Mon Âme Est Pleine” covers the ideas of desire, violence, and its aftermath, and it makes for a pretty heavy statement on these times, which are eating away at us. This record and band are not for listeners who don’t desire a challenge. It’s not easy to digest, it confounds, and it poisons, with the band’s refusal to submit to any rigid standards only adding to the psychological wounds.
For more on the band, go here: https://non-serviam.bandcamp.com/
To buy the album, go here: https://laybarerecordings.com/release/la-lune-dont-mon-ame-est-pleine-lbr074
For more on the label, go here: https://laybarerecordings.com/
Meat Mead Metal 