The French band Régiment have recorded a debut album entitled On les Aura! that will be released by Antiq Records, and today we bring you the premiere of one of the album’s new songs, “Mort d’un Nègre“.
Although Régiment are a new band, the four members have performed in an array of other groups —Wormfood, Mind Asylum, Öxxö Xööx, Lugnasad, Anus Mundi, Vintergeist, Borgia, Aorlhac, Peste Noire, Hanternoz, Ê, and Grylle. The new album is a concept record, and it’s important to understand that concept as well as the meaning of the song we’re premiering, lest you get the wrong idea from the title.
The album (whose title in English means “We’ll Get Them!”) is a musical exploration of life and death on the French lines during World War I. As the band’s frontman H has explained, it was inspired by the thoughts and feelings of the songwriters in seeing such family artifacts as a helmet, letters, military gear, and photographs dating back to the so-called “War To End All Wars”, which devastated an entire generation of men in Europe and had vast ripple effects on future generations as well. It’s not a typical subject for an extreme metal album, but there’s no doubt it’s an interesting one.
The song we’re premiering today tells the story of a black Sénégalese soldier in the French army who is mortally wounded in battle and yet feels sympathy for a dying German soldier who lies next to him, as if to say, “we are not so different after all”. It is the only sign of forgiveness or mercy that appears in the album’s lyrics, which otherwise attempt to capture the hatred and ferocity that consumed the combatants and their nations.
Although the song’s title and its lyrics use the vernacular of that long-past era of 1914-1918 (as do all of the songs), it was intended by the band as a paying of respects to the black soldiers who fought and died for France in “The Great War”, though they were treated then as little more than savages.
Musically, the song is a blending of black metal and death metal elements, with a sombre but memorable melody at the beginning that bespeaks loss and sorrow in a powerful way. But the song soon enough erupts in a thrashing gallop, with riveting, racing riffs and thundering, acrobatic percussion, and lyrics voiced in a deep growl. Even as the song blasts ahead in a warlike frenzy, it’s laced with a very catchy melody that to these ears has a hint of folk metal influence. It’s easy to be carried away by the energy and passion in the music, and it makes for a riveting introduction to the new album.
On les Aura! was mixed and mastered by Gnarl from Verdunkeln, who previously worked on recordings by The Ruins of Beverast and Truppensturm. It will be released by Antiq Records on June 18, 2015, along with a 12-page booklet that includes hand-made illustrations and the lyrics for all the songs. For more information and to order, go here:
http://antiq.bigcartel.com/products
http://antiqlabel.yolasite.com
7 Responses to “AN NCS PREMIERE: RÉGIMENT — “MORT D’UN NÈGRE””
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Kinda reminds me of what Obsequiae would sound like if they were covering Iron Maiden. I dig.
Cool track, there’s almost an Iron Maiden flavor to some of those riffs 🙂
Dis some good shit!
Sounds good to me. As far as I know the only other album devoted entirely to events of WWI is “Latvian Riflemen” by Skyforger, a bona fide classic as far as I’m concerned. Pretty sure I’ll be wanting to add this to the collection!
“Latvian Riflemen” is excellent, but it’s not the only album about WWI:
Sacriphyx’s “The Western Front” is a brilliant exploration of the Australian experience of WWI. I highly recommend it; it was deservedly and widely praised on this site when it was released in 2013. The lyrics are very thoughtful, but the it’s the beautiful, emotive lead guitar work that really drives the album.
God Dethroned’s last two albums, “Passiondale” and “Under the Sign of the Iron Cross” are focused on the Western Front, with a uniquely German -oriented lyrical spin. I like the former more, but both albums are more than solid.
Finally, while not a full album, genre-bending Canadians Will of the Ancients end “To Our Glorious Dead” with a fantastic pair of WWI-themed songs: the fiery thrasher “Trenchraider” and the epic “To Our Glorious Dead.” The latter is a near 20-minute paean to the bloodiest battle fought by Canadian troops in WWI, the taking of Vimy Ridge in 1917.
What a fabulous collection of music inspire by World War I, much of which I had forgotten about. And although I’m a Skyforger fan, that album is one I’ve never heard, so thanks to both of you.
Thanks! I have to add another album now: Ares Kingdom’s “The Unburiable Dead.” Frankly, one of my favorite albums of 2015, it’s an incredible combination of music and lyrics which effectively evokes the hellish world of WWI battlefields.