| Reviews for Sa Meute's Hyperboree |
| Unique Vocals In This Dark Metal Attack - 86% |
| Written by SILVUM
on July 8th, 2007
|
| This album by the obscure French group Sa Meute is an exploration of super natural and ancient themes. From werewolves, and ancient gods, to obscure seafaring references. The samples that appear across the album are integrated well. I hate when a cool sample of either ambient sounds or voices are followed by a pause which in many cases allows the power of the quotation to dissipate (This also applies to heavy pauses after dramatic intros). Immediate cuts to music from samples or a blending of elements are almost always preferable and do a great deal in increasing the impact of the compositions. I am also thankful that the samples are of a quality that doesn't sound like they are crappy lo fi downloaded MP3s. Unfortunately the sample on track 5 is totally dumb and irritating, can't tell if it's a wolf cub, or a retarded bird, or a guy making a dumb sound. The bonus track is also confusing, an owl I assume, or a guy making owl noises? Clear buzzing guitars are played throughout with effective well written riffing, nothing that really gets stuck in your head, but definitely enough to keep you interested. Whenever acoustic guitar makes an appearance it is played competently and recorded very clearly; nicely done on track 10 with the raven sounds. The bass is audible throughout the album, and serves its purpose while never drawing attention to itself. Drumming is tight and recorded pretty well. Some parts could be louder while others seem a bit too loud, not really a terrible contrast, and I'm basically nitpicking. I liked the abundance of mid-paced drumming material in general. It gives the album a diligent strength, and also helped to keep the blasting sections powerful. The vocals are distinctive but don't differ from metal traditions in any glaring ways, though they really stand up within the traditions. The vocalist is obviously enjoying his performances going from dramatic spoken segments to full traditional black metal style to some kind of semi-melodic yelling. I feel that this guy is really a unique talent and I hope he will either continue with this band or perform for other projects. Vocals are mixed a touch low in the mix, which forces you to listen deeper. Track 6 is probably my favorite from him on the album; it's got a possessed pirate aristocrat vibe, very eloquent but deranged. Each performance is dark, and focused with a sense of pride throughout. These are true metal theatrics that don't go completely overboard, like say, early Bethlehem. The lyrics aren't anything super special in regards to composition, but they are interesting content wise on a few songs, mainly the ones with odd sailing themes, "Slaves", "Her Shadow", and "Bizarre Employer". This is a really good metal album, nothing completely world changing, but the vocal performance pushes this up there to make it stand out in the fields of obscure metal. |