Band:	Les Ékorchés
Album:	Les Ékorchés
Style:	Hardcore, Thrash metal
Release date:	February 2007

01. Shot ça yeule
02. La vie m'ékoeure
03. Naître d'un chakal
04. Haine
05. D'la viande cé murs
06. La poly
07. Rien n'a changé
08. Vesoul
09. Amourir
10. 3 bonnes raisons
11. Le feu est pogné
12. On est en guerre
13. On s'tire dans l'pied
14. Vendredi
15. Tête dans l'kul

"Joey died / And nothing has changed", the Voivod song goes... Luckily, the same cannot be said about Piggy's tragic and untimely demise, since both Away and Snake are getting involved in various projects as I'm writing this. One such project is the hardcore/thrash band Les Ékorchés, featuring Michel Langevin on drums. Naturally, their music is not just a tribute to Piggy and should be evaluated by its own merits; however, it is nice to see that the talented members of Voivod are still making themselves useful...

On to Les Ékorchés and their eponymous debut release from 2007. Initially, the concept behind this band was apparently to create hardcore metal using exclusively acoustic (albeit amplified) instruments. I'm not sure how much of this idea remains on "Les Ékorchés"; however, it has clearly made its mark on the band's sound, which features an electric viola alongside the traditional hardcore instrumentation that we are familiar with. The song writing has also been warped - there is a definite shanty/pub song vibe present on the album, which compliments the breakdown and syncopated riff infused hardcore metal sound quite well. On top of all this, Away provides a performance that is characteristic for him, but not for the style - relaxed and laid back. The result is definitely an album that sounds like nothing else on the scene.

Unfortunately, the actual song writing present on this album is not as much of a bull's-eye as the concept behind it is. Some songs are brilliant. Others are not. "Rien n'a Changé" could have been written by Motorhead and would have been a pearl in their discography as well. "La Poly" makes excellent use of the electric viola and makes me think of what a sailor song could sound like in 200 years. "Vesoul", with its inclusion of the accordion (a dismally overlooked instrument in metal) achieves the same results. There are more great songs here; however, they are accompanied by some duds - for example, the uninteresting, vanilla hardcore of "Amourir" and "3 Bonnes Raisons"...

Overall, I am enthusiastic about Les Ékorchés and their future releases. On their MySpace page, the band states that "We're still experimenting with our sound". I'm sure they will work out the few small problems that make their debut a bit uneven and move onto great things. Nevertheless, though uneven it may be, "Les Ékorchés" is still highly recommended listening.