Vouïvre – Au Gouffre (2017)

Vouïvre has published their EP which was announced a year and a half ago with a neat teaser. Au Gouffre is a result of one-time collaboration between (among others) members of Peste Noire and Malsaint, grounded in more humane individual experiences that were shaped by black metal ideas.

The metallic part is clearly dominated by Famine’s easily recognizable artistic voice. Despite his outspoken rock sensibilities, which are needlessly pushed in front, he manages to capture his most important qualities in one simple development. What follows is less inspired: an ambient outro, while ultimately going nowhere, echoes like post-reflections on violent alcoholic mayhem.

It’s hard to deny that everything was not already revealed in the teaser. Overall, Au Gouffre is only interesting as another attempt to integrate the outlook of black metal, along with the occasional nihilistic (or “satanic”) nationalism, into more popular, post-modern art forms in order to produce multi-faceted rocking propaganda.

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5 thoughts on “Vouïvre – Au Gouffre (2017)”

  1. Rainer Weikusat says:

    I found this via youtube a while ago. This has a post black metal feel to it because it’s composed of disparate parts played in different styles someone chose to aggregate together without apparent rhyme or reason. There are some rather unimpressive and short black metal bits, something folkish with choir singing and intentionaly bad sounding harmonic deviations, outright rock with cleanly sung vocals once and with a rock guitar solo the other time and overlong alt rock tail with the usual, nice-sounding instrumental non-things (that’s only the first track).

    Hectically contrasting style changes which are supposed to distract from the individual blandness of the parts.

    This is not good.

    1. Max Schoenbach says:

      No, it’s not. It is merely interesting from extramusical point of view.

      1. Rainer Weikusat says:

        There’s quite a lot of black metal in continental Europe and most of it is much better. Fashionista vermin doesn’t really thrive outside of large cities and beyond London, there are none (population of London is about 1.5 times that of Paris and Berlin combined and 1.7 times the population Norway).

        Eg, from the 2017 album of an Austrian band (recorded 2015),

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFgV7aAolPA

        That’s an opener and there should be an album after it (AFAIK, not available online). Has been compared to Marduk and the older records are indeed in this style (judging from the few bits I’ve listened), with the characteristic, continuous blasting and randomly seeming sequence of melodylets on the guitar. For some unknown reason, whoever wrote the tracks here has instead arranged them in meaningful (better term?) riff phrases developing in relation to each other over the course of a track and the tracks themselves represent a journey a listener is taken on (or a story told to one).

        1. Titus Pullo says:

          That’s not black metal at all. Where are the flowing power chords like Bathory, Sarcofago, and Emperor? They’re not there. This is some screamo shit with pointless tremolo picking just so the vocalist can rasp unintelligibly about how tough he is. Compare this to I.N.R.I. and Godless Arrogance. This is a turd.

          1. Rainer Weikusat says:

            »schreamo« probably very much doesn’t exist outside of the USA, certainly not in rural towns (< 6000 inhabitants) in Austria. And this »pointless tremolo-picking« in form of melodic phrases … (see above) forms the backbone of the music (more conventional power chords are used for dramatic effect in one place in one of the later tracks). This is also – as I wrote – an openener. The music more closely approaches movement one would usually expect from a violin on the later tracks. The vocalist also doesn't »rasp about how tough he is«, there are no lyrics but this thematically focussed on WWI with an emphasis on Austria (the »Imperial Hordes« are Austrian imperial hordes, one of the countries Mr Wilson chose to abolish because of his 'ethnical cleansing' follies). The tracklist is Styrians Gloria, Blutzoll, Gasmaksrider, Bloodtrench, Eternal Dark Vision, The Death Rides In Flandern, White Death, Hell 1916, The Great Emperor, Trenchreaper, Grabengesang and Where The Corpses Lie.

            I don't really know what »screamo&laquo is, but Wikipedia says

            Screamo is a style of hardcore punk-influenced emo with screaming. […] creamo uses typical rock instrumentation, but is notable for its brief compositions, chaotic sounds, harmonized guitars, and screaming vocals. Screamo is characterized “by frequent shifts in tempo and dynamics and by tension-and-release catharses.” Some screamo music features chaotic vocals and quiet, melodic guitar lines. Many screamo bands also incorporate ballads. Screamed vocals are used “not consistently, but as a kind of crescendo element, a sonic weapon to be trotted out when the music and lyrics reach a particular emotional pitch.

            […]

            Screamo lyrics often feature topics such as emotional pain, breakups, romantic interest, politics, and human rights. These lyrics are usually introspective, similar to that of softer emo bands. […]
            part of the music’s appeal is its un-self-conscious acceptance of differences, respect for otherness.” Some screamo bands openly demonstrate acceptance of religious, nonreligious, and straight edge lifestyles

            None of this applies, usually grotesquely not so.

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