The appeal of Igorrr is the French avant-gardist’s ability to blend harsh electronic elements with organic instrumentation and find its unique groove.”On their new album Amen (Metal Blade Records), Mastermind Gautier Serre produces these sounds on a broader scale. You can find him online detailing the rare collection of instruments he employed in making the album. But while putting a musical museum in motion is cool in theory, the question is, how will that play out in the reality of your songs, or will it be too much of a nuance to be noticed?
Photo credit: Svarta Photography
Serre might not provide a direct answer to this, but summarizes the album’s mission statement well on the first track before more classical elements are introduced on “Headbutt,” a more straightforward massive metallic chug. Things might have been more meticulously produced, but the overall songwriting formula finds Death Metal as the primary mode of attack when things go in a more metal direction. Operatic vocals still soar to contrast the guttural vocals.
“Limbo” flows in the more classical direction, using the glitched-out out heavier parts as dynamic accents rather than being a focal point. “Blastbeat Falafel” has more Middle Eastern grooves that work best for these guys, making it the album’s most powerful song It builds into a more metallic attack as a dynamic shift. “ADHD” is a dub-steppy electronic groove. It briefly transitions into a more organic section, featuring a choir and harpsichord to provide contrast.”Mustar Mucous” flips the script and is a heavier song that still carries an electronic groove amid the shifting spastic currents that are not something unheard of for this project.
“Infestis” is the first song that has a darker feel to it. It stomps with a more predictable metallic weight. Despite its swinging groove, this feels like a progressive death metal song. “Ancient Sun” has a more flowing groove to its slight trip-hop feel. “Pure Disproportionate Black and White Nihilism” starts with a more classical feel before going into the heavier side of what they do, which comes with the glitched electronic beat. “Silemce” closes the album with a more solemn mood. It feels like the electronic elements deconstruct the composition as they smear the harsher tones atop to defile its elegance.
This album finds these guys continuing to impress and do what they do, but it is being constructed under an unpredictable formula, as the three primary sonic colors being used are Middle Eastern Electronica, Death Metal, and Classical, and then when and why these take center stage, can almost be felt rather than a chaotic ball of chimeric sonics. However, fans of this project have already signed up for the circus this band brings to town, even if what unfolds in the three rings runs on a more tightly wound schedule.
Buy the album here:
https://igorrr.bigcartel.com/
8 / 10
WIL CIFER
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