Artist: Cénotaphe
Country: France
Label: Ancien Culte / Nuclear War Now! Productions / Ossuaire Records
Format: LP / CD
Year: 2025
Things moved fast for Cénotaphe. Born out of their time together in Nécropole, instrumentalist Fog and vocalist Khaosgott started the band in 2015 and recorded their first demo, ‘La Larve Exulte’ in the following year. But things really caught on when the band’s first EP ‘Horizons’ created quite the buzz after its release on the revered Kuunpalvelus label. A split with Circle of Ouroborus on Final Agony Records followed in the same year, before the band moved to their current label, the by now legendary Nuclear War Now! Productions. The first fruit of that union was the EP ‘Empyrée’ in 2019 and ultimately the band released their debut ‘Monte Verità’ in 2020. And then, it became rather quiet. Outside sporadic live performances and represses, it took until the first half of 2025 for the next release, when the bands sophomore album ‘Chimères’ was announced and released.
Cénotaphe established themselves musically as uptempo yet melodic Black Metal with a yearning and warming atmosphere. Think of the pace and melodiousness of the Finnish scene and acts like Forteresse, the atmosphere of Ulver, and the sound of French bands like Osculum Infame and the members’ formed bands Caverne and Nécropole. Especially on ‘Empyrée’, their most atmospheric recording, and on ‘Monte Verità’, the band started to employ keyboards more clearly within the tracks rather than as ambient intros, enhancing the atmosphere even further. An influence that perhaps came further from Black Metal than might be apparent, illustrated by the cover the band did of a song by the progressive Rock band Aphrodite’s Child. ‘Chimères’ feels like a culmination of all that has come before, keeping the enhanced emphasis on atmosphere without losing that cunning sense of melody that hallmarked their journey. And in my opinion, with that they take that formula to the next level.
From the very first moments, ‘Chimères’ feels like a welcoming return to where the band left off with ‘Monte Verità’. It’s that uptempo Black Metal with engaging melodies and a feeling as if you’re basking in the setting sun that made the band sound unique and the centre of what Cénotaphe stands for. More than ever, there is a fluidity to the riffs, as if they take you by the hand as they continue to change as a song progresses. It gives them both a familiarity and a constant development throughout. The drums are dynamic in pace, shifting underneath the melodic layer and adding to the sense of adventure contained within. Vocals are commanding, staccato, howling accents on the melodies, or at times clean and clear to enhance the epic character of the songs. And the keys cosmically whistle, subtly but oh so noticeable. Together, they form an exquisite marriage of piercing pace, melodious elegance and harmonious atmosphere.
‘Chimères’ is a record filled with lush soundscapes. ‘Sempiternel Retour’ has a beautiful melodic drive and organic flow, while ‘Titans’ is sharper, more hectic initially. It then twists, slowly builds a melody that rocks, meanders and transcends into a solo only to end with bombast and choirs. ‘Nitescence’ is initially a calmer, more dreamlike track, melodic but subtle, and builds into an imposing and glorifying mood. ‘Sous les Fourches Manichéennes’ is beautiful and blazing, more dominant in its tremolo riffs, where vocals accents highlighting the melodic guitar are distinctive and a multitude of vocal layers come together. ‘Le Carnage des Chimères’ is warm in tone, striking a resemblance with the colorful palette of the album artwork, al the time being epic is its harmonies yet piercing in tempo. ‘L’île de Rien’ is utter beauty, where the keyboards grow slowly to claim a place into the spotlight, striking a melancholic tone in its almost solitary role on a canvas of a wall of guitars and vocals cries. And to finish it off is ‘Dans la Poix des Barathres’, a song where the staggering drum pace with the fusion of all the elements is simply stunning.
The contrast between the flowing guitar lines, the dynamic rattling drums and the commanding howls is splendid. ‘Chimères’ is the most elegant of the Cénotaphe recordings to date, balanced and highly captivating. A triumphant return of their intense, melodic, atmospheric and most of all, utterly breathtaking Black Metal.
