(Our old friend Justin C. has paid us a visit with this guest review of the second album by the French band Nature Morte, recently released via Source Atone Records.)

Nature Morte‘s new album, messe basse, is one that almost slipped by me. The folks over at Invisible Oranges included it on their list of notable releases, with the brief-yet-intriguing description of “Expressive, atmospheric black metal with lacerating melodies carving out their paths in your mind.” Sadly, delays pushed the Bandcamp release back a little bit, and during an already busy Bandcamp Friday (possibly the last), the album almost slipped my mind. I mean, do I really need to check out every so-called “atmospheric black metal” album?

I’m glad I followed up on this one, though. Nature Morte‘s self-chosen genre tags of blackgaze and post-metal puts this album squarely in one of my favorite areas of metal, and better yet, they’ve managed to carve out a bit of sonic space in that area that’s uniquely their own. Continue reading »