(Today we present Comrade Aleks‘ extensive recent interview with Philippe Courtois of Misanthrope fame, with a special focus on the Misanthrope spinoff Argile and the completion this year of Argile‘s trilogy of albums.)
Argile is the doomy branch of French intellectual extremes Misanthrope and it rarely emerges from the underground. While Misanthrope have been steadily recording albums and performing for over 35 years, Argile have been moving modestly and heavily from album to album.
Spleen Angel is the band’s third full-length work, and it is separated from the previous full-length by a huge break, counting 14 years. The album was recorded with a full Misanthrope line-up: Philippe Courtois (vocals), Jean-Jacques Moréac (bass, keyboards), Gaël Féret (drums) and Anthony Skemama (guitars).
Argile sound absolutely doomy, but unbridledly artistic, and do not restrain their impulses by genre conventions.
There is some real death-doom among the twelve tracks on Spleen Angel, and the hyper-theatrical intro “Mineral StyxMata” sets the stage for the showpiece number “Resurrection of the Flesh”. It has (what an irony!) echoes of old Septic Flesh, while “Scorpion’s Bites” has the sensual psychedelia of 1994’s Tiamat. “Blue Wine” would be a good fit in Misanthrope’s discography, and the gothic doom track “Momentum of Regret” features female vocals to contrast with Philippe’s anguished singing.
The successfully electrified “Macabrïeta”, the semi-gothic action thriller “Maldoror”, the symphonic “Spectrum Symphony”, and the intense eight-minute “From Golgotha to Pandaemonium” form a mosaic of dark passions and gloomy impressions. Stylish, percussive with a touch of dark romance, Spleen Angel is rich in quirky melodies and the theatricality of a good extreme production. This is a striking, talented work, recorded at the intersection of genres and absorbing the best of the heavy doom of the ’90s.
Argile is one of the last bastions on the French metal front, and I’m happy to propose to you this interview with the chief misanthrope Philippe Courtois.
Hi Philippe! It’s good that we have a new reason for an interview, so let me congratulate you with the release of the third Argile album Spleen Angel. How do you feel regarding this release? Do you aim to support it actively?
Dear Aleks, it’s always a pleasure to talk with you about Music and Art. Thanks for your congratulations. I’m so happy, the trilogy is finally nailed after 30 years between the first song “Zephyr Penitent” and the ending release. 1994-2024 it’s a miracle of life. I’m at my artistic sunset, into an artistically fulfilled French man. It’s an indescribable pleasure believe me. I’m proud and happy for the fans who will listen to a strong Avant-Garde Dark and Doom piece of 77 minutes of Music. Yes, I’m actively supporting this very strong release since March 2024!
It’s obvious that Argile isn’t the main thing in your life, as the previous album Monumental Monolith was released fourteen years ago. How long did you actually work on Spleen Angel?
Don’t take Argile wrong, it’s a super-important band for me. I’m making music for Art and its development into the underground scene, so things take time, months, years. But in my blood passion for the creation and completion of this album was always on.
It was a hard task to find a temporal space in Misanthrope‘s career to have all 4 members available, plus at least 7 guest musicians. I started exactly the 16th of April 2020, the next day right after my fiftieth birthday. Around December 2020 demos of the basic tracks were done. Most of the songs were written during the years 1994, 2012, and 2020.
Gaël Féret did the drum recording of this gigantic piece in January 2021 as far as I remember. I completed the vocals in two sessions of three days in the studio Henosis. This Spleen Angel is a 100% pro recording in studio, no home studio was used. So, it was a total of six days only for the vocals. It was a Hell of a hard job but I’m very satisfied with the result of this final performance. Then as usual after the drums followed Jean-Jacques Moréac’s bass lines. Next Anthony Scemama’s guitars… and it pushed us to a long mix and arrangements session at Studio Henosis with engineer Frederic Gervais during all the year 2022-2023.
You say it was a hard work, so what was the most difficult part of it?
The most difficult part was the recording of the vocals; it was very long. I’m not used to singing three days in a row non-stop anymore. With the arrival of the home studio, I sing more regularly but for a lot less time (not all day long). It was a real physical suffering and a technical challenge in Studio Henosis with producer Frédéric Gervais.
In addition, we wanted perfect English pronunciation. And even though I’ve always worked a Hell of a lot on my English, we were uncompromising on the smallest details, on the accentuation, the style, the choice of words, the emphasis on the tonal syllables. We have done an extraordinary job; I am very happy and proud about that.
There are three albums in Argile’s discography and twelve full-length albums (correct me if I’m wrong) in Misanthrope’s discography. Does it mean that Argile’s spleen isn’t something ever-present in your life, and Misanthrope’s rebellious spirit is more natural for you?
Very interesting question. A little detail: for me there are “only” ten studio albums of Misanthrope. Miracles: Totem Taboo is a compilation of three EPs and the new one Les Déclinistes is a super re-recorded version of old songs that we achieved for the 30th anniversary of the band.
Personally, I’m really a mixture of Spleen and Euphoria; my mood as the moon is changing extremely fast. It’s sometime complicated to live with, but artistically it opens a wide range of emotions and feeling. You are right, I’m more into Fury and Tears. A raging fire for French Metal Art is burning inside me. Rebellion is Art; when you watch the news through the internet… you can only yell to stop this madness, we are returning to medieval times with stupid wars and religious obscurantism. I do not believe my eyes when I see that such a developed society is poisoned by humans. We are way too many on this planet. We are truly going to our downfall… I lost all hopes years ago. But I can’t stop screaming and alerting mankind. Since 1991’ Hater of Mankind.
Yes, it’s an interesting point as humanity follows this controversial path relying less on science and facts and plunging deeper into prejudice and obscurantism, as you say. But this is a process of epic scale and we can’t influence it. One can use it only as an inspiration to channel the wrath or disappointment in an artistic vein. How much did current events influence your songs this time – both directly or indirectly?
I am a man of the future who speaks of an ancient and almost forgotten time, of a culture that is fading, of freedom that is crumbling year after year… Les Déclinistes. But yes, science and technology are part of my everyday life. I live with a screen in front of me for more than half the day. It’s hard not to get bored without a screen in 2024. Fortunately, there is still play, reading, theater, driving, concerts, and sports walks.
In my artistic creation, modernism and the evolution of humanity (as well as its sociological development) is a huge source of inspiration. When I was a little boy, my paternal grandfather nicknamed me “the year 2000”. In his eyes, I was the child of the future. I have always tried moving all my life in this direction.
The new material is very different: here we have the psychedelic doom thing “Scorpion’s Bite” (which reminded me a bit of Tiamat’s Wildhoney), then there’s electrified “Macabrïeta” and well-orchestrated “Spectrum Symphony”. How did you manage to work with all these influences?
Without any question, I knew what I wanted for Spleen Angel since years ago. As I told you there is a gap of around 12 years (2008-2020) between the last two albums. It’s really enough to digest and assume all our influences. This album is inspired by all Holy Records albums I produced between 1992 to 1997. This is my musical DNA; inside there are melodies, experimentation, progression, and vocals lines which are directly inspired by those magnificent Holy Records albums we co-produced with Séverine Foujanet. But I’m also into Tiamat, My Dyning Bride, early Paradise Lost, early Candlemass, early Morbid Angel and Death, etc… all those great stuffs are in my veins and make a part of Argile‘s music.
I spent my life for working for other musicians’ music, now I spend the end of my life for my Music. I self-concentrate my energy on me after giving a lifetime to the others (I’m now 54 years old unfortunately!). So, the electro song “Macabrïeta” and the orchestral piece of “Spectrum Symphony” were planned on the to-do art list for Spleen Angel and I’m fuckin proud of both.
Oh! It explains everything! Did you have a main composer in Spleen Angel? Did you write songs jamming during rehearsals, or did you share already-prepared ideas with each other?
It’s a vast question, so here is a little schema for a better comprehension:
1 “Mineral StyxMata”, 3:20 (Year 2020 Gaël Féret rhythm and percussion composition, Philippe basic primitive inspiration keys and structure, Frédéric Gervais arrangements)
2 “Resurrection of the Flesh”, 6:28 (Year 2020 Philippe basic primitive riffs and structure, Anthony Scemama co-composition and arrangements)
3 “Bluewine (Lips Of Doom)”, 7:33 (Year 2012 Philippe basic primitive riffs and structure, Anthony Scemama arrangements)
4 “Momentum of Regret”, 8:45 (Year 2020 Philippe basic primitive riffs and structure, Anthony Scemama co-composition and arrangements)
5 “Zephyr Penitent”, 6:54 (Year 1994 Philippe basic primitive riffs and structure, Jean-Jacques Moréac and his brother Charles Moréac co-composition and arrangements)
6 “Scorpion’s Bites”, 5:05 (Year 2020 Jean-Jacques Moréac music and structure)
7 “Giant Titan Mysteries”, 6:39 (Year 2020 Philippe basic primitive riffs and structure, Anthony Scemama co-composition and arrangements)
8 “Macabrïeta”, 5:45 (Year 2020 Jean-Baptiste Boitel music, structure, and production)
9 “Maldoror”, 5:38 (Year 2012 Philippe basic primitive riffs and structure, Anthony Scemama arrangements)
10 “Rex Imperator Funeral”, 7:24 (Year 2020 Philippe basic primitive riffs and structure, Anthony Scemama co-composition and arrangements)
11 “Spectrum Symphony”, 5:32 (Year 2020 Philippe basic primitive score, basic instruments choice and structure, Pierre Le Pape complete full orchestration and arrangements)
12 “From Golgotha to Pandaemonium”, 8:13 (Year 2012 Philippe basic primitive riffs and structure, Anthony Scemama arrangements)
We did a couple of rehearsals for Spleen Angel, only Gaël Féret and me (the other musicians on back tape) to fell the live version of the tracks. But it was more a home-studio work for the composition side in a specific order. All the instruments’ arrangements are by the musicians themselves; all drum parts are written by Gaël Féret, all bass lines are written by Jean-Jacques Moréac, all guitar parts are arranged or co-written by Anthony Scemama, solos and leads are written by Anthony Scemama, etc… It’s a band work. I’m just the man who blew the breath of creation to a fantastic musicians’ team. Thanks again to all those great musicians for their patience, friendship, belief, opening, and great performance.
You say that the core of “Zephyr Penitent” was composed in 1994, as Argile was founded in 1997. Did you write these riffs with Misanthrope on your mind? Why didn’t you use these ideas in Misanthrope?
Exactly, “Zephyr Penitent” was composed for Misanthrope. We even played it on stage during the Miracles: Totem Taboo Tour 1994, but in 1995 during the preparation of the recording of the album 1666… Theatre Bizarre we removed three tracks. These 3 tracks formed the core of the 1997 version of Argile. That’s how we arrived at the band Argile with several songs already in our luggage.
Obviously, we reworked the arrangements but the structure and the riffs are extremely similar to the 1994 version. I love the authenticity, naivety, and innocence of our early works. I just think we weren’t ready in 1994 to record such a marvelous song as “Zephyr Penitent”.
How and when did you decide that all these different songs would fit into one album, and you’re ready to release it?
As I told you, it was ready for this super-wide spectrum years ago. We were ready. It’s my wish to have doom songs, a dark metal song, an electro goth song, grandiose epic thrash songs, a full orchestral song, a ballad song, an esoteric experimental noisy introduction song, all connected and inspired in one album. This was the challenge. We composed Spleen Angel song by song but I had the “final” vision of the album in mind. During the mastering Fréderic Gervais from Studio Henosis helped me for the final choice of the track-list order.
You know I’m ready to release anything that I think is good, inspired, well-produced. and original for Metal Music history.
Did you think to leave some of the Spleen Angel songs for Misanthrope? Some of these tracks may fit well on its next album, or so it seems.
Yes, you are right, it’s a trap, a risk we had. So, the answer is yes, one song was too “Misanthrope” styled, and we dropped it from the recording session. It finished in the rubbish bin to eternity.
How much in common do Argile’s lyrics have with the lyrics you write for Misanthrope?
Argile lyrics are a part of Misanthrope‘s concept. It’s a dream, the thoughts from Alcest of Hate (Misanthrope’s concept hero) while he is in a coma. All this suspense and esoteric tales will be cleared in the next Misanthrope 2026 album (the 11th studio album). The Argile trilogy is a “spin-off” from Misanthrope. Its macabre tales mostly take place into Antiquity and Peplum times. A must for those who are into historical events set in ancient Rome, ancient Greece, ancient Egypt, the Old Testament, ancient philosophers, and mythology tales. For fans of mysteries, frightening esoteric and neo-occult surrealism.
What do you mean by “neo-occult surrealism”?
I use the source of occultism found in ancient books and satanic music. I modernize it and apply a modern, progressive, and therefore Neo way of thinking. This is my neo-occult view in Argile’s lyrics. I mix and absorb this thought into the surrealist movement of 20th-century French literature. As well as with my own thoughts, and it gives us some of the inspiration for the lyrics of this trilogy.
By the way, how much of France is in Argile? What kind of authentic features do you see in Spleen Angel?
It’s a good question. For me Argile is 100% French, even if the subjects are not taking place in France; it’s written in the view of an old French cultured man. Even if most of the action is taking place between Golgotha and Sahara. But you are right, beside “Rex Imperator Funeral”, which is taking place in ancient Gaul, all other songs are from the other side of the world. It’s Tales. It’s a call of freedom into a journey in a dreamy elsewhere. It’s an album conducted by the Dream Lord himself, the entity who drive my dreams of creations.
What is happening in Misanthrope’s lair now? How did you complete your triumphant march in the name of the band’s 35th anniversary in 2023?
It’s smooth. Since March 2024 we are into promoting Spleen Angel, but be sure that we are excited to compose our 11th studio album for 2026! We recorded ΑXΩ – Alpha X Omega: Le Magistère de l’Abnégation in February 2014 (out in 2017). And believe me we are dying to compose its following. We will do it for sure. More surprises will come for the 35th anniversary, be connected.
If I remember correctly, you mentioned Spleen Angel as the last part of Argile’s trilogy. Does it mean that you won’t return to this project anymore?
It’s finished, nailed, done. The Dream of Alcest is closed. We won’t return to the magnificence of Argile. It’s the END of my vision of my dream for this band. We did way more than expected. Check out the super live film available in HD on the YouTube channel ARGILE | Live Hellfest 2015 (Official Live Performance) | Holy Records 2015.
How do Argile’s albums work as a trilogy? As you say, “it’s a dream, the thoughts from Alcest of Hate while he is in a coma”, and the material tends more to doom metal, and so… Why do you see it complete now?
It’s a beautiful trilogy because there are the first two parts in “Mono” and the Grand finale with the appearance and revelation of our Spleen Angel. I loved writing the conclusion of the “Coma” of Alcest of Hate and the angelic and saving appearance of our Spleen Angel.
I’m going to give some leads and information on the why and how of this “Coma” in the next Misanthrope 2026 album. But for the moment everything is secret. There is no need to worry; in three years you will be have all details of why Alcest falls into this “Coma” and triggers these three albums of “Argile Macabre Dreams”. This 30-year quest for the Holy Grail, the enigma of the resurrection of Christ, as well as the theft and possession of Lucifer’s scepter.
Sounds promising! What are your personal artistic plans for the rest of 2024?
I gave myself two years of pure musical creation. Then in 2026, after the recording of the 11th Misanthrope album, I will see what I will do artistically, maybe start painting or writing a book, who knows. It’s not clear. For the next years I’m 100% into Music. Because Music is all my life.
But we have to admit that the music business has abandoned its musicians and creators. They have given way to machines and other artificial intelligence, our years of holding the flames are numbered.
Hélas.
Aeternitas
Friday 14th June 2024, Pyrenees-Orientales, France
Philippe Courtois de l’Argilière
Photo Credit c+p Rachel Daucé