Ok, we have topics on UK Black metal, US Black metal, Canadian Black metal and Swedish Black metal, and most of these scenes are pretty interesting, but in my opinion they are all beaten by the French Black metal scene. (Some Swedish bands can give the Frenchies a good run for their money, though.)

So, French Black metal. A very diverse scene, containing both old, 'true' bands and new, innovative ones. I personally think that if you like Black metal, there is no way there is no single French Black metal band that doesn't appeal to you. Whether you love Deathspell Omega's powerhouse, testosterone-fuelled philosophical (awesome) ramblings, Neige's melancholic work with Mortifera (highly underrated) or you're a Les Légions Noires guy, the Frenchies seem to have something for everyone.

In this topic you can discuss the known, big bands or bring new, interesting acts to light. I'd like to start off by saying that Mortifera's "Vastiia Tenebrd Mortifera" (the album that inspired this thread), is highly recommended to anyone that likes his/her Black metal melancholic and sensitive, yet incredibly raw and distorted. A pearl, in my humble opinion.

France has one of the best bm scenes in the world. The scene is basically littered with everything, and your comment about there being something for everybody is certainly true.

The LLN, while tragically overrated, had some material that was outright genius among all the pretentious crap they released. Most LLN releases suck, but there are a few bands that don't. In my opinion, Mütiilation, Vlad Tepes, Belketre, Torgeist/Vermeth, Aäkon Këëtrëh, Black Murder and Brenoritvrezorkre all had good material, while some stood out more than others. All the rest is basically crap though (Seviss and all that shit).

Apart from the LLN, Neige's projects are also mostly really good. The only one I'm not too fond of personally would be Alcest (shoegaze is not my cup of tea most of the time). Peste Noire is the best of them, but Mortifera and Amesoeurs are also up there.

Then, we have the orthodox French bm. As orthodox bm is my favourite kind basically, I'm an avid fan of bands such as Deathspell Omega, Antaeus and Glorior Belli. The French orthodox scene is to my knowledge only rivalled by the Swedish one, and it shows when it comes to the quality of the bands. Deathspell Omega's Fas is a pure masterpiece, along with some of Glorior Belli's work.

Also, if you're into the more melancholic side of black metal we always have Celestia. Pretty much every Celestia release is awesome, and anyone would do really well to check them out.

Apart from that, we have some of the more underground non LLN affiliated bands. Kristallnacht is perhaps the first to come to mind, and it was an exceptional project under all it's eras (the project has been called Funeral, Kristallnacht and at a later point Desolation Triumphalis). This isn't some all that special weirdo shit though. This is just some real quality standard black metal. Another band worth mentioning is Seigneur Voland (which had ties to Kristallnacht).

Also, if you're into the more industrial side of black metal (as well as being into really weird stuff), I'd reccomend trying to get into Diapsiquir and Blacklodge. They are both very strange bm bands with some industrial tendencies to them (Blacklodge has these to a greater extent than Diapsiquir which is mostly just strange).

All in all, it's a great scene not to be overlooked, and I'm forgetting to mention a fuckton of great bands right now....

I don't know too many french black metal bands, but the few I know are quite good . The ones I like the most are: Anorexia Nervosa, Malleus Maleficarum, Ad Hominem, Nehëmah, Desolation Triumphalis and Peste Noire.

I know Blut Aus Nord (by name only, never heard their stuff so far), Esus and Astraarth - wonderful "burgundian" folk black metal

and as well i know Zarach 'Baal' Tharagh is from France - probably most weird and funny guy i have ever heard about http://metal-archives.com/band.php?id=13677

Oh yeah, i forgot about Blut Aus Nord (ok, I actually didn't know that they are from France ), they are also pretty good. I also know Zarach Baal Tharagh and it's probably the worst thing I've ever heard

Heh, I am just listening Diapsiquir. It really is some weird shit but I am not sure yet if I like it.
Anyway, although I can't say I am at home in any metal genre, black metal is still probably the most familiar for me. I enjoy quite a lot of french bm, also. Starting from the already mentioned bands, I love Glorior Belli's "Manifesting the Raging Beast", having not heard the other one. The riffs are just fantastic. On the other hand, Deathspell Omega has left me pretty indifferent, at least before hearing "Chaining the Katechon" which I really like. The compositions are really weird, in a good sense.
I also quite appreciate the bands where Neige has participated in, although I must admit that I don't think he has succeeded so well in realizing his vision whatever that is. Alcest gets boring pretty quickly and Amesoeurs, although being better, gets also old quite fast. I listened to the full-length twice and I don't think I listen to it again soon. I actually think that Neige's greatest achievement is his vocal performance in Mortifera's album, it's just over the top (in a good way).
I don't care much for LLN bands, although there was a period when I was a bit interested in them. I found Susvourtre pretty amusing but it was probably only because of the pedophilia references.

Btw. is Gestapo 666 also a LNN band? I quite like them, despite of the ridiculous name (it's ridiculous enough to be funny, like a most overblown attempt to be "evil").

Now there are two french bm bands that haven't been mentioned in this topic. First one is Nuit Noire. I'd say this is my favorite band which is of course also the reason why I think France has the best bm scene in the world. It's just because of Nuit Noire. Then again, you can debate whether they are even black metal anymore. The punk influences dominate on their albums and it's the punk influence why I like them. But that's not the only reason of course. The lyrics are fantastic (if I want to hear songs inspired by fairies I'll choose Nuit Noire instead of Alcest, anytime), the riffs are very original (seriously, you can't find any band which has riffage like that) and the vocals...well, I understand those who dont't like the vocals but I love their whackiness. Tenebras screeches like a...fairy, I guess. It's also good to see that they seem to have a small fanbase in last.fm. At least some people appreciate them.
As for the second band, I also have mentioned Vediog Svaor in another thread but this name deserves to be repeated here because the band is pretty interesting, at least if you like experimental style of black metal. It was a one man band and he released only one album "In the Distance". It sounds quite original and features interesting clean vocals now and then. The man has surely listened to a lot of prog rock. I am even a bit surprised that so few people know this band because, aside from the pretty awful production, there are occasional moments of briliance even. The guy behind this band is now in Aluk Todolo which supposedly mixes krautrock and black metal. I don't know about that but they are also quite interesting. So check them out.

Written by ForeverDarkWoods on 20.03.2009 at 23:29

France has one of the best bm scenes in the world. The scene is basically littered with everything, and your comment about there being something for everybody is certainly true.

The LLN, while tragically overrated, had some material that was outright genius among all the pretentious crap they released. Most LLN releases suck, but there are a few bands that don't. In my opinion, Mütiilation, Vlad Tepes, Belketre, Torgeist/Vermeth, Aäkon Këëtrëh, Black Murder and Brenoritvrezorkre all had good material, while some stood out more than others. All the rest is basically crap though (Seviss and all that shit).

Apart from the LLN, Neige's projects are also mostly really good. The only one I'm not too fond of personally would be Alcest (shoegaze is not my cup of tea most of the time). Peste Noire is the best of them, but Mortifera and Amesoeurs are also up there.

Then, we have the orthodox French bm. As orthodox bm is my favourite kind basically, I'm an avid fan of bands such as Deathspell Omega, Antaeus and Glorior Belli. The French orthodox scene is to my knowledge only rivalled by the Swedish one, and it shows when it comes to the quality of the bands. Deathspell Omega's Fas is a pure masterpiece, along with some of Glorior Belli's work.

Also, if you're into the more melancholic side of black metal we always have Celestia. Pretty much every Celestia release is awesome, and anyone would do really well to check them out.

Apart from that, we have some of the more underground non LLN affiliated bands. Kristallnacht is perhaps the first to come to mind, and it was an exceptional project under all it's eras (the project has been called Funeral, Kristallnacht and at a later point Desolation Triumphalis). This isn't some all that special weirdo shit though. This is just some real quality standard black metal. Another band worth mentioning is Seigneur Voland (which had ties to Kristallnacht).

Also, if you're into the more industrial side of black metal (as well as being into really weird stuff), I'd reccomend trying to get into Diapsiquir and Blacklodge. They are both very strange bm bands with some industrial tendencies to them (Blacklodge has these to a greater extent than Diapsiquir which is mostly just strange).

All in all, it's a great scene not to be overlooked, and I'm forgetting to mention a fuckton of great bands right now....

Eeeeee I completely agree with almost everything you listed, particularly the LLN and anything from Neige.
French black metal is almost my entire bm collection.

I alreday saw many mentioned LLN I will not mention bands from LLN but soem others what I know
Its Alcest and Mystic Forest my fav french BM bands

Those are :
Aes Dana, Ad Hominem, Antaeus, Anorexia Nervosa(yes it counts to) Aura Noire, Bekhira(I searching this band), Crystalium, Eternal Majesty, Funeral Forest, Hegemon, Heol Telwen, Himinbjørg, Peste Noire, Red Winter, Seth, Temple of Baal
Ok there many good bands from FRance who play BM,those are what I knowal are good and main reaosn why I like french BM, its FRENCH its 100% French how can be BM, we look at spanish, bands they try coppy lil Scandic BM, but french if they do it they keep french sharm and romance into BM , french lyrics, some atmosferic parts who sounds like tradditional french misic whatever, you name ita nd you will find it into french BM
Its like listen slavic BM bands who keep slavonic traditions alive, so do french bands keep french thinks in BM and it sint so cold how Scandic to

PS long agos oemwhere I forgot where Damnated gave many good french BM band names even one of his old avatars was pic from french BM band(I forgot name )

I agree that France has a great Black metal scene. Alcest and Amesoeurs are amongst my very favourite bands overall, and many other projects are interesting: Peste Noire, Blut Aus Nord and Anorexia nervosa.
So, check out Amesoeurs first album if you haven't done it yet

Well I personally think that apart from these bands nothing is worth-checking out:
Alcest
Anorexia Nervosa
Antaeus
Blut Aus Nord
Deathspell Omega
Peste Noire

Written by Elio on 21.03.2009 at 18:10

I agree that France has a great Black metal scene. Alcest and Amesoeurs are amongst my very favourite bands overall, and many other projects are interesting: Peste Noire, Blut Aus Nord and Anorexia nervosa.
So, check out Amesoeurs first album if you haven't done it yet

Do you mean Amesoeurs s/t?
If so I got it Thursday morning and it is unbelievable, by far one of the best albums I've heard so far.
The songs, lyrics, vocals and melodies are perfection. I can't stop listening to it.

I don't believe anyone has mentioned Angmar yet....

Written by Lucas on 20.03.2009 at 22:59

In this topic you can discuss the known, big bands or bring new, interesting acts to light. I'd like to start off by saying that Mortifera's "Vastiia Tenebrd Mortifera" (the album that inspired this thread), is highly recommended to anyone that likes his/her Black metal melancholic and sensitive, yet incredibly raw and distorted. A pearl, in my humble opinion.

Coming from someone with a decent taste, I'll have to check them out. And no offense to Bad...English, dude, but ehh.. I think I won't ever read another one of his post again. Number one, it gives me a headache to sort out the chaos and secondly....I think he just searches Metal-Archives (bands through country).:P

Peste Noire is actually pretty good, it's come to grow on me in the past month. I dig their style....got the whole...French thing going on. A friend introduced me to Celestia, but I haven't had TOO much time to listen to the album. Frigidii...something.. from 2008, very unusual sound, but kind of interesting.

Im not much into this..but wow, i heard the french black metal scene is HUGE.. and i knew a dude from Canada, he showed me some stuff ... and that there ( in Canada ) are also black metal bands who are doing this "French" thingy

And just realized that the main dude from Celestia is also a dude from Mortifera. This is a very complicated case...lotta ins, lotta outs.

But Mortifera sounds a bit better than Celestia.

I also prefer Mortifera to Celestia, mostly because of Neige's vocals on their full-length. His screams in "Ciel Brouille" and "Aux Confins Des Tenebrss" are outstandingly inhuman, it is his best vocal performance, methinks.

Listening to Peste Noire's latest one right now, it's quite interesting. I'm not that impressed, but it's a solid work, short though. The female vocals are put to good use and the "marching" parts are fun.

Anybody interested in the new Mortifera? Only heard of its release a few minutes ago... goddammit, I'm definitely out of the game.

Anyway, ordered it and looking forward to it.

Written by Lucas on 27.08.2010 at 22:07

Anybody interested in the new Mortifera? Only heard of its release a few minutes ago... goddammit, I'm definitely out of the game.

Anyway, ordered it and looking forward to it.

Holy shit, really? O.o They must have kept that under wraps as I hadn't heard a thing either. Excellent news though.

It's been out for three months. Whaddayawhat? But then again, who has ever heard of Apparitia Records.

Otargos are pretty good IMHO.

Temple of Baal are my fave from France. They are currently recording the follow up album of Lightslaying Rituals(a truly fantastic album).

Only Svest and Mortifera

In general, I think the French is by far the most overrated of all black metal scenes.... and I'm not just talking about all that LLN bullshit, but also about early Alcest, Deathspell Omega and Blut Aus Nord.

Written by [user id=5080] on 30.08.2010 at 00:32

Only Svest and Mortifera

In general, I think the French is by far the most overrated of all black metal scenes.... and I'm not just talking about all that LLN bullshit, but also about early Alcest, Deathspell Omega and Blut Aus Nord.

Blut Aus Nord overrated? Go wash your mouth with soap!

Written by [user id=5080] on 30.08.2010 at 00:32

Only Svest and Mortifera

In general, I think the French is by far the most overrated of all black metal scenes.... and I'm not just talking about all that LLN bullshit, but also about early Alcest, Deathspell Omega and Blut Aus Nord.

Alcest yes, the other two are the best examples of both evolutionary and revolutionary black metal. Even from a purely impartial perspective their talents are virtually undeniable.

Written by [user id=4365] on 30.08.2010 at 12:54

Written by [user id=5080] on 30.08.2010 at 00:32

Only Svest and Mortifera

In general, I think the French is by far the most overrated of all black metal scenes.... and I'm not just talking about all that LLN bullshit, but also about early Alcest, Deathspell Omega and Blut Aus Nord.

Alcest yes, the other two are the best examples of both evolutionary and revolutionary black metal. Even from a purely impartial perspective their talents are virtually undeniable.

Aha it seems I am nto the only person on MS who thinks Alcest is overrated. Somehow I always thought you thought Alcest to be great.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 30.08.2010 at 13:11

Written by [user id=4365] on 30.08.2010 at 12:54

Written by [user id=5080] on 30.08.2010 at 00:32

Only Svest and Mortifera

In general, I think the French is by far the most overrated of all black metal scenes.... and I'm not just talking about all that LLN bullshit, but also about early Alcest, Deathspell Omega and Blut Aus Nord.

Alcest yes, the other two are the best examples of both evolutionary and revolutionary black metal. Even from a purely impartial perspective their talents are virtually undeniable.

Aha it seems I am nto the only person on MS who thinks Alcest is overrated. Somehow I always thought you thought Alcest to be great.

I actually love Le Secret, no mistake about that and I really like Souvenirs or whatever it's called but I don't think they/he is that special anymore. I think a lot of the appeal revolves more around the romantic fanboyism of Neige rather than the music, which again I think is decent but there's an awful lot of that style around right now and Alcest doesn't do much to distinguish itself from the crowd. And I'm just sick of Neige integrating himself into existing projects and ransacking them all into Alcest clones =P

Written by [user id=4365] on 30.08.2010 at 13:20

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 30.08.2010 at 13:11

Written by [user id=4365] on 30.08.2010 at 12:54

Written by [user id=5080] on 30.08.2010 at 00:32

Only Svest and Mortifera

In general, I think the French is by far the most overrated of all black metal scenes.... and I'm not just talking about all that LLN bullshit, but also about early Alcest, Deathspell Omega and Blut Aus Nord.

Alcest yes, the other two are the best examples of both evolutionary and revolutionary black metal. Even from a purely impartial perspective their talents are virtually undeniable.

Aha it seems I am nto the only person on MS who thinks Alcest is overrated. Somehow I always thought you thought Alcest to be great.

I actually love Le Secret, no mistake about that and I really like Souvenirs or whatever it's called but I don't think they/he is that special anymore. I think a lot of the appeal revolves more around the romantic fanboyism of Neige rather than the music, which again I think is decent but there's an awful lot of that style around right now and Alcest doesn't do much to distinguish itself from the crowd. And I'm just sick of Neige integrating himself into existing projects and ransacking them all into Alcest clones =P

Yep Neige is converting every band he works with into Alcest .... that being said it is not necessarily a bad thing , I have just recently started liking Alcest and Neige's work in general but I believe he did deliver something new but started repeating himself which uptil now is not bothering
we will have to see what he will do in the future

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 30.08.2010 at 13:11

Written by [user id=4365] on 30.08.2010 at 12:54

Written by [user id=5080] on 30.08.2010 at 00:32

Only Svest and Mortifera

In general, I think the French is by far the most overrated of all black metal scenes.... and I'm not just talking about all that LLN bullshit, but also about early Alcest, Deathspell Omega and Blut Aus Nord.

Alcest yes, the other two are the best examples of both evolutionary and revolutionary black metal. Even from a purely impartial perspective their talents are virtually undeniable.

Aha it seems I am nto the only person on MS who thinks Alcest is overrated. Somehow I always thought you thought Alcest to be great.

btw, I think ALL Alcest is bad.. I just said early Alcest because after Le Secret they're not black metal at all... just wanted to make clear that point, I don't want to start an eternal discusion about the blackmetalness of Alcest.

Written by The Turbanator on 30.08.2010 at 03:24
Blut Aus Nord overrated? Go wash your mouth with soap!

I don't see why not. Although without a doubt possessing skill and atmosphere, they aren't very original (then again, since pretty much all the crops have been harvested, I guess they are above many other bands), probably won't appeal to those who don't like the genre in the first place (unless they enjoy dark atmosphere) and they seem to have the standard BM vibe at times.

Written by vezzy on 30.08.2010 at 20:21

Written by The Turbanator on 30.08.2010 at 03:24
Blut Aus Nord overrated? Go wash your mouth with soap!

I don't see why not. Although without a doubt possessing skill and atmosphere, they aren't very original (then again, since pretty much all the crops have been harvested, I guess they are above many other bands), probably won't appeal to those who don't like the genre in the first place (unless they enjoy dark atmosphere) and they seem to have the standard BM vibe at times.

You must be talking about a different Blut aus Nord. Not original? MoRT, Thematic Emanation of Archetypal Multiplicity and The Work Which Transforms God are virtually unique and the other albums Odinist (takes the aesthetic of MoRT and conventionalises it), MVII (takes their older style and modernises it with some minor prog) and Liber I (which infuses a more pure black metal sound with death metal tones) are all three examples of the, as you say, "standard bm vibe" made to sound completely different to each other. I personally can't think of a band that cycles through so many forms of black metal with the same level of success. Unless you're talking about the pre-The Work albums which are standard fair, but they haven't played that style for a long time.

Written by [user id=4365] on 30.08.2010 at 20:34

You must be talking about a different Blut aus Nord. Not original? MoRT, Thematic Emanation of Archetypal Multiplicity and The Work Which Transforms God and The Work Which Transforms God are virtually unique and the other albums Odinist (takes the aesthetic of MoRT and conventionalises it), MVII (takes their older style and modernises it with some minor prog) and Liber I (which infuses a more pure black metal sound with death metal tones) are all three examples of the, as you say, "standard bm vibe" made to sound completely different to each other. I personally can't think of a band that cycles through so many forms of black metal with the same level of success. Unless you're talking about the pre-The Work albums which are standard fair, but they haven't played that style for a long time.

Never could get into MoRT. Pretty atmospheric though, as is pretty much all of their work, but I never found it particularly enjoyable.

What Once Was... Liber I also left me with a rather standard impression, but I've only heard lo-fi vinyl rips of certain parts. Early work also left me... feeling like something's lacking (Ultima Thelee and MVI, although the latter was alright to an extent). Odinist was decent.

As for The Work, I found it had some truly great parts, but dragged on, felt bland at others and the vocals never struck me as particularly great (hell, they're standard shrieks and howls). I really like "Procession of the Dead Clowns" though, very chilling. Whereas songs like "The Howling of God" seem rather mundane. You can't deny the minimalism, really.

Maybe it is simply me, but the bleak, desolate feeling is the highlight of BaN. Rest doesn't pack much of a punch for me.