Libertine Humiliations

When this album first came out, I was all over it. "God, this is really good !". But as the novelty wore out, I found myself skipping songs, almost narrowing the record to three songs...

"Libertine..." is basically "Visionnaire" part two, music-wise. All the elements that make Misanthrope are still there : the brutal death parts, the prog elements, the baroque feel, the doom lyrics... But everything sounds really uninspired. Songs like "Total Eclipse Chaos" or "Sous l'éclat blanc du nouveau Millénaire" are tedious, almost like it was a burden to record. On the other hand, "Antiquary to Mediocrity" is a really brutal song that would certainly appeal to extreme fans, but is unworthy of Misanthrope, given what they shown on "Visionnaire".

It's not that "Libertine..." is a bad album per se. There are several gems in there. "Misanthrope Necromancer" is a great number and "Combattant sans Sépulture" demonstrate a new face of the band, leaning towards a more dynamic, almost speed metal side. But everything sounds, well... soulless, like the band tried to repeat their previous success, while cutting down on their creativity. The guitar riffs sound like they're leftovers from "Visionnaire", and tend to drag into long solos ("L'Ecume des Chouans").

All in all, Misanthrope delivers, with "Libertine...", an average album, certainly unworthy of their previous effort. On the other hand, it's their most accessible album to date, and so could be a good place to start with the band. Many fans of the band tell me it's their favourite, so I guess I was expecting too much of the band after the masterpiece "Visionnaire"...