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Recommended Buried Treasure Pt. 5: Les Discrets, Septembre et Ses Dernières Pensées

About a month ago, when I was slathering over the brilliance of Alcest‘s Écailles de Lune, John from the infamous Ripple Effect blog noted that he preferred the work of fellow French black metalgazers Les Discrets, and the name stuck with me. I finally checked out a couple tracks on YouTube and yesterday, while also trying yet again to get my hands on a copy of the new Electric Wizard (failure), I grabbed Les Discrets‘ only full-length to date, Septembre et Ses Dernières Pensées, at Vintage Vinyl.

Those familiar with the Prophecy Productions label know they specialize in the melancholic, and Les Discrets is no exception. One thing that surprises me about post-black metal is how much it seems to have in common ideologically with the emotional European doom of bands like Paradise Lost or mid-period Anathema. It’s a connection I haven’t heard many people make, but it feels fairly obvious to me as comparison point sound-wise. In any case, much of that same candlelit ambience seems to have been inherited by the likes of Les Discrets, and they put it to good use.

Septembre et Ses Dernières Pensées is an atmospheric piece through and through, but I think what I enjoy most about it — more than the drama, more than the emotional or tonal weight of the songs — is that the vocals are low in the mix. It seems like the simplest thing in the world, and it seems like a silly reason to think a record rules, but Fursy Teyssier is balanced just right with the music. He and Audrey Hadorn stand out when they need to, as on “Sur les Quais,” but when the music gets heavy, as on the doomly-paced but gorgeous “Chanson d’Automne,” they’re no farther forward than the guitars or Winterhalter‘s drums. It really is one of the strongest aspects of the album.

Teyssier, who is also a member of Amesoeurs with Neige of Alcest, leads the band on Septembre et Ses Dernières Pensées and provides the stunning and dark album art (he also did Écailles de Lune and has done other Prophecy releases as well), but as much as Les Discrets may be a one-man spearheaded project, there’s nothing lacking in terms of fullness of sound or space in the production. It’s probably not going to be everyone’s go-to listening experience, either for the drama, the French lyrics, the melodic emotionality, or the fact that closer “Une Matinée d’Hiver” sounds like the soundtrack to the “she’s leaving but everything’s going to be okay” sensitive moment in every teen comedy ever, but as a mood piece, Septembre et Ses Dernières Pensées is a strong outing in a burgeoning style that’s really only beginning to see exposure. Thanks to John for the killer recommendation.

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One Response to “Recommended Buried Treasure Pt. 5: Les Discrets, Septembre et Ses Dernières Pensées

  1. UKGuy says:

    Nice review – I’m still ‘working on’ the vocals for this. The new album by related band Lantlos “.neon” is neat too.

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