I've been trying to get this post up since last week but things have been crazy busy, and there's probably more of that on the horizon. But anyway, the incredibly oddly titled "The Voyage of the Pessimistic Philosoph: An Ode to Believers of the Prevailing Law of Sod" is the first I've heard from UK trio Art of Burning Water in the years since their three-way split with American Heritage and Foe. As with that split, this disc comes to us from 
Gantz has actually been around for awhile now, having released several albums, splits, and compilation appearances. But "La Chambre Des Morts" is my first exposure to the French outfit, and it gets off to somewhat of a misleading start with a four-minute track of lulled instrumental ambience. While those elements do play a significant role in the band's approach, especially when the songs run five to eight minutes on a regular basis, most of their work balances out the lighter side through plenty of pounding midpaced rhythms and harsh screaming vocals more akin to what I'm used to hearing from the mighty Radar Swarm label. But there are some unexpectedly melodic tinges within a number of the riffs as well—even a few of the more biting and acerbic areas can flirt with such traits—whereas the dynamics of the compositions tend to shift from pulsing heaviness to flowing clean passages that almost combine an emo/screamo element with a strange sort of prog-meets-post-rock lean on those shimmery kinds of instrumental breaks. Interestingly enough the recording tends to go easy on the distortion in terms of leaving plenty of breathing room for the percussion and vocals, so they're not trying to be over the top heavy, and thus some interesting textures result in the guitar work. But I do find myself wondering where the basslines are, so amping up the low-end a little more could indeed secure some additional impact in the mix. The lyrics are delivered entirely in French, but some English text explanations suggest a slight socio-political edge to the content, though it would seem that everything is tactfully wrapped in personal perspectives, which is always a plus. There's not really any one song on this album that properly represents the entirety of what Gantz has to offer, but this particular example does provide a solid range:
Gantz "Noircir La Porte de sa Maison"
I've been raining praise upon Radar Swarm's excellent work for years now, and I don't see that trend waning anytime soon since I'm already eagerly anticipating their next release from Year of No Light. So definitely pick this up if the above sample gets you curious, and be sure to check out more of the Radar Swarm back catalog as well if you're not yet familiar with their superb offerings:
Comments
neat. andrew, can you throw some other reviews of recent french bands releases up? as a “personal” favor, only…i have always wanted to hear more of what i have..
6.19.2006 | By Jon
Try these two links to dig around for more French band reviews on the various versions of the site:
“France” search
“French” search
Hope that helps!?
6.19.2006 | By Andrew Aversionline
those tracks from art of burning water are crazy. and i see what you mean about the vocals. a little odd but still pretty intense. keep these great updates coming.
6.19.2006 | By chris
the vocals take some getting used to, but they’re pretty wild, you were right about that. there’s a cool french band called l’esprit du clan, “reverence” (their 3rd full-lenght) is killer, you might wanna check it out, andrew.
http://www.espritduclan.com
6.20.2006 | By chris
L’Esprit du Clan is fucking awesome. I’ve been trying to get their CD’s for a long time but the first EP and full-length are impossible to find and “Reverence” is too expensive everywhere I see it. Thankfully God’s Child is re-releasing “Reverence” with some bonus material sometime soon and that’s actually going to be distributed here in the US, so I can’t wait for that!
6.20.2006 | By Andrew Aversionline