Ossuaire – Mortes Fables

Mortes Fables is the last recording of the French band Ossuaire, initially released as a MCD (2010) and now rematerialized on a black tape with sticker and pro cover. What you get on this tape are six tracks of top-notch darkened death metal, with overall fine production and digital packaging. Six tracks are spaning just over 28 minutes of old-school darkened death metal. Lyrically its still dealing with old spirit of medieval tortures. Production is a bit thin at some places, but still good enough when we think of the underground and old-school nature of this release.

Now a few words on the music itself; compared to the previous 2016 recording entitled Le Troubadour Nécrophageophile, this new one is more based on atmospheres and with more doomy edge and numerous ambient interludes. Meanwhile, it’s important to mention that we’re still dealing here with brutal and ferocious groovy death metal that provides this almost barbaric feeling created by obscure atmospheres, strange arragements, and aforementioned lyrics depicting the horrors and tortures from the medieval times.

An intro song titled “Marche Noire” opens this six-tracker album in the best death metal style delivering a sonic assault from the very first tone of this opening intro. Meanwhile, the following “Le Siege” is a bit different, mainly due to its contrasting clean solo and a more clean and modern crispy production. On the contrary you’ll find a closing dragging track “R.S.P.E.” which generally sounds more intense, brutal and morbid. These two tracks mentioned here are just to show you how each track is individual, telling its own story, instead of being a part of a bigger concept.

Atmospheric and ambient breaks run through third song “Liber Mortis” and and its succesor “Feeria In Anus Deflore”. “In Scatorks Excrementis” is probably the strongest track from Mortes Fables as it really shows the true quality of this opus. The vocals are varied and the otherwise thin production is absolutely decent here, a true pleasure to listen to.

The French underground storms eternally – thus, if you’re into dark, dirty, morbid, obscure and old-school death metal and acts such as old Bolt Thrower, Morbid Angel and similar scene giants.

This solid and interesting tape/CD-R pearl from the French underground scene is available from https://nihilisticholocaustrecs.bandcamp.com/album/mortes-fables or https://ossuaire-deathmetal.blogspot.com/