MOULIN BANAL - Le Rythme Du Maréchal Ferrant EP
Grey Matter Productions
Aside from a few exceptions, the only black metal from the large nation north of me I truly find exceptional is the stuff coming out of Quebec. Basically you hear bands that incorporate a lot of cultural and historical aspects to their overall sound. Also I do respect their Quebecois nationalism which is all about preserving a heritage. They're not that different from some bands in Europe but this stuff is on my side of the pond.
Of course one of my favorites is FORTERESSE, an atmospheric black metal act from Quebec. I first got into them around ten years ago and I've been a fan ever since. Another name to drop is CHASSE-GALERIE who I got into the same time but they only had one full length release. There's a few other BM bands from Quebec have releases by but I'm not down right now to search the stacks. But I will say that MOULIN BANAL is now added to my list of Quebecois black metal favorites.
They're definitely different in their delivery. There's a fair use of acoustic instruments within their songs. You get the gist of that early when the spoons are used in the opener, and in the final cut. They also employ the use of some acoustic guitar, mandolin and a merlin which is like a miniature 4-string guitar. Along with all of that the black metal portions are basic second wave in style. Plenty of icy tremolo picked riffs to play down your spine. Vocals are of a cavernous variety.
There's six tracks on here, 3 of which are instrumentals. The lyrics are in French but from what I can gather the basics behind this release is the life and hardships faced by the early French settlers of the land. Like I mentioned earlier, it's all about the history and culture of their people. Also even though it's a short release the songs on here do invoke a feeling in which you understand the hardships of those old pioneers.
By the way MOULIN BANAL is a two piece act Comte Bergaby who is responsible for the electric instruments (guitar & bass) as well as the vocals, drumming and last but not least the playing of spoons. Believe it or not but I use to know a girl who use to play the spoons. Carabinier Carignan is the second member of the band and specializes in all the acoustic instruments. I'm gonna take a guess and say this is a side project since both of these guys are also in a blackened speed metal act called WARSLAVES who have an EP out called Whips, Whips, Whips... I'll have to check that one out as well.
https://greymatternoise.bandcamp.com/album/le-rythme-du-mar-chal-ferrant
