Tribal Tech

The French metal scene was sadly overlooked, when it comes to thrash metal at least, in the late-80’s/early-90’s. It was completely overshadowed by the more productive ones, like the German, the Dutch, the Polish, the Swedish, the Italian, even the Russian one if you like… Of course, everyone knows the speed metal pioneers Killers and ADX, as well as the Big Four (No Return, Loudblast, Massacra, Agressor) of French thrash/death metal, but that pretty much depletes the fans’ knowledge of it. The experts will remember Mercyless, who have returned in the new millennium, and the already extinct veterans Nomed; names that can be counted on the fingers of both hands…

Surprisingly, the majority of this small batch did well in the early/mid-90’s: Loudblast released the excellent “Sublime Dementia” (1993), Agressor went full-on death metal on their finest hour “Symposium of Rebirth” (1994); the others chose to adapt to the new vogues more (Massacra on “Sick”, 1994) or less (No Return on “Season of Souls”, 1995) successfully. There weren’t any seeming flops “served” by the mainstream, and yet the real treasures were those which largely passed unheard: the works of Treponem Pal (the debut), Droys, Oddmongers, and Aleister. All these outfits literally re-invented the wheel by creating fascinating, eventful combinations of the old and the new sound, making them entirely their own, each in their own inimitable way.

Aleister, an ambitious creative trio, started together with the other more renowned acts mentioned earlier, but their very first demo (“Annihilation”, 1988) was sloppy semi-amateurish thrash which tried to capture the unbridled energy of the rising death metal movement by also trying something more elaborate, the final result charmingly chaotic and unfocused. Comes the “Schizophrenia” demo a year later, and the band are already a well-polished machine with a much more potent, technical delivery looking well-equipped to enter the scene on a full-time basis. Alas, they never capitalized on these strong five tracks disappearing from sight for five years. Unperturbed by the changes experienced by the metal movement at the time, the guys released their debut, and only official one so far, effort in 1994.

One may want to crucify them for the album-title choice; it hardly conjures any notions of serious, hard-hitting thrash… The “tech” part may intrigue some, though, and I’m quite sure those were the ones who dared venture into it back in those days. And they were more than delighted to hear one of the most perfectly composed classic/modern thrash blends of all times. The retro metal lovers may be pulled back by the lengthy heavy intro on the opening “Rigor O Mortis” which sounds as though at any moment the guys would branch out into either doom or aggro post—thrash; instead the band provide a staggering headbanging section which later gets mixed with choppy stop-and-go techniques the latter remaining the guys’ major “weapon”. The rough hardcore-ish vocals may be annoying to some since they were the most common “singing” style in this era, but a high-strung wailing throat would have been totally out of context here. Enters the title-track and indeed some tribal drums can be caught among the super-complex rhythm-sections which twist and turn in a way no worse than Meshuggah’s “Contradictions Collapse” and Obliveon’s “Nemesis”, never leaving the mid-paced confines and yet producing some of the most technical sounds of the 90’s. “Dead Walking” will start producing zombies left and right with crunchy time and tempo-changes with the stop-and-go gimmick reaching its culmination here which can cause dizziness due to its constantly shifting vortex-like application; expect a fast-paced “skirmish” in the second half as well to add more to the infernal complexity.

A masterpiece like that can only be followed by “Sell Lie” which “sells” the next in line portion of seismic technicality which here borders on spastic Confessor-esque doom. “Suicide” is more vivid with a great speedy inauguration which may cause spontaneous headbanging, the band nicely keeping the high dynamics the whole time without too many extra flourishes. “Scorn Dread” carries on with the speedy exploits which are more varied this time with frequent slower, also more intricate, interruptions those recalling Dark Angel’s “Time Does Not Heal” quite a bit. Mentioning the Americans’ magnum opus, I think this album here beats their 246-riff feat; I haven’t counted, but I believe the riff applications here surpass 300; now here’s an assignment for the mathematicians... “Masquerade” is a not very decipherable amalgam of fast and slow passages which cross each other abruptly creating numerous dramatic spirals the headshake guaranteed by the end of this cannonade which also throws a stylish nod to the Bay-Area with the exiting urgent shred. “Agony of a Race” for once sounds more orthodox with the carefree speedy start, but the technical “distractions” resume before long the guys preserving the more intense riffage which progressive, marginally atmospheric, build-ups recall Coroner’s “No More Color”. “Criminal” is a short spastic thrasher the band shredding in the most hectic, unnerving fashion the ensuing chaos relieved by a short lead section. “Before to Take Flight” is an engaging progressive closer which starts creeping with unobtrusive jumpy guitars which only get jumpier and harder to follow as time goes by, but the band have taken care of this “inconvenience” by providing great fast-paced moments and even a cool memorable chorus; thumbs up for this glorious epitaph!

The very dense riff-driven approach may come as too much to some, especially accompanied by the sterile, mechanical at times guitar sound. On the other hand, the easily detectable classic spirit is an admirable feat having in mind the modernized musical delivery. This album throws a great bridge between the two schools giving a fair share to both in the process by very aptly avoiding all aggro and groovy “traps” along the way. It’s better balanced between the two sides than Forbidden’s “Distortion”, Channel Zero’s “Stigmatized for Life” and Ktulu’s “Orden Genetico”, to mention a few other similar crossbreeders; and proudly stands right next to Obliveon’s “Nemesis” as the one of the two finest attempts in this trend. I imagine this is how Coroner’s “Grin” should have sounded like if the Swiss hadn’t spaced out completely, and if they had voted to remain within the thrash metal confines for at least one more spell. This effort wouldn’t be the headbanger’s paradise due to its not very linear, unpredictable character, and the less patient and the more easily distracted may abandon these mathematical riff-formulas way before the end… The classic metal lovers may also find the cold precise arrangements too clinical for their taste at times, but the more democratic audience would by all means have the time of their life on this meticulously constructed opus, full of hope that the old school might as well survive the dark ages in such appetizing symbiosis with the new vogues as the one presented by these three talented Frenchmen.

It might as well, yes, but not Aleister. The guys literally vanished after this recording never to resume their artistic pursuits again except for the drummer (also keyboardist) Eric Fleury who was later seen in the industrial metallers Wormachine, and the symphonic gothic/power metal formation Karelia, both split-up now. The resurgent movement of retro thrash metal revisionists in the new millennium hasn’t moved them apparently, but I guess tribal drums with a pinch of the good old French chanson might do the trick.