It's fitting that as I wrote this, there were flash floods happening all over my city. I already talked about one album around this time that got me pumped up to go on a very wet jog, now it's time to talk about music that encapsulates the storm itself. Meet Deluge, a post-black/post metal/post hardcore/whatever you want to call it band out of France. I had already made strong parallels between Aether and the sounds of a storm prior to visiting their bandcamp page, but perhaps they explain it best:
"Thunder rolls afar, unremitting rain, awaited gloomy deliverance gets under your skin. Sudden storm of unleashed instruments then quietness, absolute serenity. At the gates of hell or heaven depending on the listener’s philosophy.
Cleverly mixing some kind of modern & ambient Black-Metal with Post-Hardcore tones, DÉLUGE does what has to be done whether you want it or not."
It took me a minute to hear it, but the strongest comparison here would be Tod Huetet Uebel. Deluge features the same no-time-wasted, constant...well..."deluge" of noise. Just start up the album and see for yourself. The appropriately labeled "Avalanche" jumps right into a maniacal blastbeat backed by fierce tremolo. Soak it in, because this is virtually the next hour. It has the same driving force of a sludge record, just on fast forward. Meanwhile the cathartic howls erupt from the distance like cries of the drowning.
Like most atmospheric affairs, Aether is best experienced in one sitting. The tracks all sport a similar feel, yet I was never bored. In this way, it could also be compared to the latest So Hideous album. There is a bit of downtime when the endless pounding of kick and snare ceases, leaving only the literal sounds of rain and some post-metal guitar. But these tend to be brief, jumping right back into the tempest.
And while the songs are fairly uniform, there are a few standouts that I ended up throwing into a few playlists, namely the aforementioned opening track and "Appâts." Hits and single aside though, this is just a terrific album. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride, and it was the perfect companion to this particular stormy, grey morning. You can stream Aether below and pick it up from the Bandcamp page.
