Houle – Ciel Cendre Et Misère Noire

Houle is a French Black Metal quintet, one whom I had the pleasure of reviewing their debut EP some two years ago. In the interim between then and now they have not only seen it fit to release a Full-lenght album entitled Ciel Cendre Et Misère Noire (which translates from their native French into something approximating ‘Ashen Sky And Black Misery’), they also added aprefix to their genre of choice – Namely Nautical Black Metal, referencing the heavily nautical themes present throughout all seven tracks on the record (as well as on the introductory track which is essentially a one minute long sea shanty). 

Overall, everything I enjoyed about their previous release still holds up, not just their continued focus on the splendour and horrors of the vast deep ocean – Ever-present as it is in both lyrics and musical themes, right down to the choice of instruments, melodies and background sounds in order to build atmosphere. 

All in all, Houle manages to throw several concepts together succesfully, despite each of them being a near-guaranteed addition to my collection in their own right:
– A strong production alongside a coherent approach to the music genre they wish to play
– Well thought-out concept that everything rallies around (nautical themed), with every small detail painstakingly shaped and then reshaped in order to fit together just right
– A clear love of the genre as well as having a story of danger and natural disasters begging to be told
– Performed and spread out to the world in their native French; An apt choice to make, since there is something singularly French about the album as a whole (which, no doubt also adds to my personal biases towards both this and the previous release). 

All in all, if you enjoyed their prior Demo, you are almost sure to enjoy another almost forty-five minutes of intense, atmospheric drowning, as it were – And as an added benefit, the band has been kind enough to also indulge us with the near-lost art of a music video, in this case for the track “Sur Les Braises Du Foyer”; Which is French for ‘On The Embers Of The Hearth’. 

Still recommended for fans of Malevolentia and Bethlehem, as well as the rising French Black Metal scene. 

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