Band:	Sortilège
Album:	Larmes De Héros
Style:	Heavy metal
Release date:	1986
Guest review by:	Winterthrone

01. La Hargne Des Tordus
02. Chasse Le Dragon
03. Le Dernier Des Travaux D'Hercule
04. Quand Un Aveugle Rêve
05. Mourir Pour Une Princesse
06. La Montagne Qui Saigne
07. Marchand D'Hommes
08. Messager
09. La Huitième Couleur De L'Arc En Ciel
10. Saggitarius (Le Dernier Des Travaux D'Hercule) [Instrumental version] [bonus]
11. Elephant Man (La Hargne Des Tordus) [English version] [bonus]
12. Win Her Heart (Mourir Pour Une Princesse) [English version] [bonus]
13. Flesh And Bones (Marchand D'Hommes) [English version] [bonus]

Sortilege: Larmes De Héros

France, the land of good cheeses and awesome wines, has never been renowned for its metal scene. In fact, maybe if it changed a little bit these days with the growing French Black Metal scene or a major band like Gojira, but in the eighties metal was more associated with Great-Britain, USA, Germany or even Sweden than France. Happily, this didn't prevent France from having a Metal upsurge at the beginning of this infamous decade with bands such as Satan's Jokers, Vulcain and, of course, Sortilege. This last band had everything to succeed: good composition skills; an awesome singer that some critics dared to compare to Rob Halford; and guitarists with an impressive sense of melody. But, singing in French, not comfortable in their attempts to sing in Shakespeare's language and lacking the support of any serious record company, in 1986 Sortilege decided to disband after roughly five years, leaving one Demo, one EP and two awesome full-length albums. Almost forgotten as of 2010, Chuck Schuldiner's favorite band deserved more than this. That is why your humble slave is here today; to make you discover one of the best traditional Heavy Metal albums I've heard in my life, their very last album Larmes De Héros.

The first thing one notices as the first song "La Hargne Des Tordus" kicks off is the awesome voice of Thomas "Zouille" Augustin and the way the vocal melodies blend perfectly with the music. This may be a little difficult to figure out if you don't speak French, but let me tell you it's a lot more difficult to write lyrics that fit the Heavy Metal format in French than in English. That's what makes Zouille's work even more impressive: his fantasy inspired lyrics fit the music flawlessly and his amazing voice soars above the music like an eagle flying over the Alps creating catchy choruses and mind blowing verses for all the songs.

The other musicians are not to be forgotten. In fact, this album could be seen as a lesson in composing great Heavy Metal songs. The guitar riffs and soli, responsibility of Stéphane Dumont and Didier Dem, are ecstatic, precise, original and are matching the vocal melodies described above in an almost unbelievable way. The rhythmic section with Daniel Lapp on bass and Bob Snake on Drums provide a strong basis for the guitar ability demonstration mentioned above while taking all the place they deserve. The result is an album with no filler, satisfying from the beginning to the end with perfectly crafted and varied song structures. The production, a work of Karl Trapp and Vic Vergeat at Karo Music Studios in Germany, is very good and can stand (in some cases win) the comparison with any other album I've heard from 1986.

In conclusion, even if that album disappointed some fans of the band when it came out because it focused more on songwriting and melodies than on raw aggression, it was still critically acclaimed and I can perfectly understand why each time I listen to it. This is a suggestion for metal connoisseurs who want to expand their horizons discovering an eighties heavy metal hidden gem with the originality of French lyrics.