Review – No Clean Singing
« Unlike the first two bands in today’s round-up, we haven’t previously encountered Skaphos, but they too are French — Lyonnaise, to be precise. They came together in 2018 and have recorded a debut album named Bathyscaphe, which will be released at some point (to be announced) in the winter of 2020. What you’ll find below is a harrowing video for a song off the album called “La Tombe des Mariannes“.
The song and the well-executed video were inspired by a Lovecraft short story named “The Temple”, which recounts a series of nightmarish occurrences on a submerged (and ultimately doomed) World War I U-boat, the growing insanity of its crew, and the murderous acts of the vessel’s commanding officer. As the U-boat’s last survivor, he witnesses the existence of a ruined city on the ocean floor, and a temple within it “aglow with a flickering radiance, as from a mighty altar-flame far within” — where he goes willingly to his death, following “an inexplicable and imperious command” that he cannot resist.
Consistent with what inspired it, the song combines elements of black and death metal to create a feeling of tension and turmoil. The feverish riffing, the rapidly battering drumwork, and the combination of guttural roars and lunatic shrieks bring us into a nightmarish world, and the flaring pulse of the guitars has a piercing quality that gets stuck in the head, too. Undergirded by an ominous bass line, the music turns out to be dynamic, and even mesmerizing in its manifestation of hallucinatory visions and vanishing sanity. »
Listen to the full album on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and more.
- Mix – Adrien Copello (adrien.copello@gmail.com)
- Mastering – Morgan Bennett
- Cover – Laurine Metura
- Logo – Yasmine Le Vezo
- Layout – Théo Langlois
skaphosmusic.com 