ALBUM REVIEW: FELONIE - DE SÈVE ET DE SANG

UNDERGROND ONE-MAN MELODIOUS DM FROM THE SWISS ALPS

The clocks changing and the onset of winter must be a keenly self-aware point in time to release a record of this sort. Felonie is a one-man blackened project from Switzerland and the man behind it is one Marc Bourban who plays in other obscure underground acts but has opted to create his own.

Bourban’s debut ‘solo’ De Sève et de Sang is chilly and forlorn sitting between melodic death and black metal. Synchronizing melody with heavy aggression is hardly a novel formula, but here Felonie go full pelt for it with heroically soaring tunefulness augmented with savage vocals, blastbeats and double pedals. Eschewing the rawness of classic BM, this is a crisply produced sound enunciating each icicled tremolo.

Although you’d probably describe this as black metal the melodies here are outrageous with a panoramic sweeping feel akin to Winterfylleth. Bourban copiously hemorrhages rousing yet sorrowful wide-screen hooks in spades. A standout is La Garde De Fer a simply barnstorming gallop that combines reflective melody and death metal drive to their optimum. Similarly Dryade De Sang-mêlé has the anguished reach-for-the-sky leads bolstered with driving metal pistons. Once in the heat of battle, Bourban, cranks out more chunky aggression with the likes of the bellicose Du Haut De L’echafaud or the stamping of Pax Romana – Pax Dissueta which is a bit incongruous stylistically and vaguely reminiscent of American post-Nu Metal.

De Sève et de Sang has a focussed aesthetic with a sound, artwork, mood all combining tightly and evocatively. As a multi-instrumentalist, this work is generally highly impressive. A shout of commendation should also go to session drummer Nikola Duŝmanić for a rampaging display. Some of the florid introductions and synth augmentations approach Celtic Twilight tweeness thought that can mostly be overlooked. One criticism is that the record could potentially have been trimmed as the 50 minute run-time threatens to stress-test the listener. Yet the impassioned knack of penning such quality emotive charging-into-battle hooks is something to admire. There are more established well-known acts who have attained wider recognition with material not as impressive as Felonie.

Check out their bandcamp here: https://felonie.bandcamp.com/album/de-s-ve-et-de-sang