Band:	Pensées Nocturnes
Album:	Grand Guignol Orchestra
Style:	Avantgarde black metal
Release date:	February 01, 2019
A review by:	X-Ray Rod

01. Un Trop Plein D'Rouge
02. Deux Bals Dans La Tête
03. Poil De Lune
04. L'Alpha Mal
05. L'Etrangorium
06. Les Valseuses
07. Gauloises Ou Gitanes?
08. Comptine À Boire
09. Anis Maudit
10. Triste Sade

Never forget to spice up your musical journey with honest and pure silliness.

First of all, I'd like to say that my first contact with this French project started with their debut, Vacuum, which I still hold dear to the point that I became quite disappointed with the immediate change in style, starting with their sophomore album, Grotesque. The project moved from harrowing and uniquely depressive black metal to an avant-garde, burlesque and jazzy soundtrack of nightmares? It took me a while to get used to the change, considering my strong love for their debut, but I enjoyed the following albums and accepted them for what they were.

Grand Guignol Orchestra, however, was instant, unfiltered and lovely fucking fun. It's hard to accurately pinpoint what makes Pensées Nocturnes' latest album their best since their debut to me. It just seems to one-up all the good aspects: It's more engaging and fun. It's probably the album in which the band is most committed to their crazy art and fully embraces the hilarious madness. It does not feel forced at all and the songwriting is clearly way more on point this time. While I fully enjoy the previous outputs, I completely understood those who felt the band had become too disjointed to be enjoyable. This time, the kaleidoscope of musical elements that make Pensées Nocturnes' sound are approached under a more homogeneous filter. It's still a highly volatile and unpredictable album, but every surprise is more entertaining instead of feeling oddly written.

There is a clear return of savage undertones as well and it is by far their most aggressive output since Grotesque. The romantic and elegant aspects of the previous two albums has developed into a more intense and hard-hitting sound. Some of the most extreme sections reminded me of later Peste Noire albums (without the awkwardness of enjoying the work of a dubious individual, that is) but with the infectious jolly good time of acts like Diablo Swing Orchestra. One example of this new-found extremity lies in the vocal arrangements. The ferocity of Vaerohn's growls and howls astonished me as I had not heard such a brutal display of madness in quite a while. There is also plenty of charismatic fun in his clear vocals, recalling circus leaders pumping up the audience.

Without a doubt, Grand Guignol Orchestra marks a new chapter for Pensées Nocturnes as it shows the band at its most mature, aggressive, delightful, and of course? at its funniest! Don't fight the ridicule and get trapped in the silly, devoted madness that these clowns want you to be a part of!