Forteresse - Crépuscule D'Octobre review
| Band: | Forteresse |
| Album: | Crépuscule D'Octobre |
| Style: | Black metal |
| Release date: | November 22, 2011 |
| A review by: | Troy Killjoy |
01. Silence D'Octobre
02. Le Triomphe Des Douze
03. La Lame Du Passé
04. Mon Esprit Rôde Toujours
05. Spectres Du Solstice
06. Enfants Du Lys
Canadian black metallers Forteresse have been around for about half-a-decade now, slowly but surely rising to prominence within the metal noir Québécois scene. For the uninitiated, the Québec black metal scene is growing rapidly: spearheaded by other bands such as Gris, Akitsa, and Sombres Forêts (to name a few).
Forteresse embody black metal not only in sound, but in philosophy. Politically driven, these musicians use the band as a means of voicing their disgust at the deaths of tradition within their native land. And that disgust is more than felt throughout their discography.
Crépuscule d'octobre continues in the same vain as its predecessors, combining a grandiose atmosphere and folk-inspired raw black metal that pummels the listener with angst-laden repetition for 45 minutes. The goal of the music is to crush the listener with a feeling of inescapable anguish, and that is precisely where this album succeeds. The only way to avoid the asphyxiating effects of the October dusk is to crawl on your hands and knees inside the dank cellar of your fanatical antipathy, searching hopelessly for some sign of light. Immediately it becomes clear that the way out is shrouded by the developments of the modern world, leaving you behind to rot in misery while solace seeks out those who embrace evolution.
And evolve this band will not. The simplicity, the almost stagnant creativity, the blatant inability to give in to the winds of change... it fills the air with charm. A charm that wraps around the throat with an iron grip, choking the remnants of life from your very soul. Crépuscule d'octobre acts as the perverse shadow that saunters mockingly at your side while your eyes swallow the tips of your fingers seeking refuge from the cruel world around you, into the world of Forteresse: distorted, malignant melodies; icy, metallic drum work; and tormenting shrieks that burrow deep inside your depraved imagination.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 6 |
| Production: | 10 |
 | Written on 26.12.2011 by I'm total pro; that's what I'm here for. |
Comments
Comments: 25
Visited by: 238 users
| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603  |
Oh, my, I felt almost like reading a review by Rozz. Good job! "The goal of the music is to crush the listener with a feeling of inescapable anguish, and that is precisely where this album succeeds." I definitely felt this while listening.
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306  |
Written by Milena on 26.12.2011 at 12:12 Probably the greatest compliment I've ever received on this site. And I'm glad to hear you felt the weight of this release. I know atmosphere is an incredibly subjective thing, so while some people might feel the same about its enveloping factor, others might just think of it as boring because you can't tell the songs apart. 
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18439  |
Written by Milena on 26.12.2011 at 12:12 Music can do different things to people... I was in a good humor and pretty much smiling the whole time, a pleasant, beautiful and quite peaceful listening indeed.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 26.12.2011 at 13:38 I always try to figure out the intended mood, so I try listening to releases in different times of the day and surroundings, and different companies too. Nerd.
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18439 |
Written by Milena on 26.12.2011 at 13:41 A lot of cds change their atmosphere or make it more strong if you change the environment. This album has too much melody and light sound for me to feel some kind of anguish. It's too nice
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 26.12.2011 at 13:47 I'm sure the holy days have a great deal of influence on this. In regards to both our opinions. 
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18439 |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 26.12.2011 at 13:53 Hhahahhahaha that could be a good point. Let's see how this album would sound like after a few weeks after going back to Uni.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 26.12.2011 at 13:47 Dunno, I get more negative emotions from "nice" stuff than the other stuff. If you tell me I'm looking at a horror film, I'll just laugh at the bloodspill. If I watch a normal movie and come across a negative feeling-laden situation, I won't be able to watch for a couple of seconds.
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by Milena on 26.12.2011 at 13:57 Likewise. And the opposite is true for me too. I feel more positive when listening to or watching more "negative" things.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603 |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 26.12.2011 at 14:01 True for my circle of friends. We always play Sentenced at gatherings. Well, Sentenced is pretty sadness-lite for most metalheads, but since we like them, there's always a sense of negativity coming from the unfortunate death of Miika Tenkula. But it still makes a great party atmosphere for us. And most people, when they are present at some of our gatherings, don't get how can we have fun "while playing something so depressive". "We just can" is always the answer 
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18439 |
I dunno... when I go for negativity. I'll go deep on extreme doom so Sentenced would be faaaaar away from depressive. Not even extreme doom makes me gloomy. I'm just inmune to that nowdays. "Nice music" just makes me feel good. Music can't make me feel bad nowdays because I use music as an escape, so I'm going to feel better by default.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 26.12.2011 at 14:19 That's what I said, they're mostly sadness-lite for metalheads, but still people can't figure out how come we listen to "that depressing shit" while we're having fun.
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| Boxcar Willy REEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Posts: 9216  |
Immma be tr00 kvlt and call this wheatcore.
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603 |
Written by Boxcar Willy on 26.12.2011 at 19:45 It does have a grainy sound.
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| Boxcar Willy REEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Posts: 9216 |
Written by Milena on 26.12.2011 at 20:36 its settled then, somebody change the genre. I HAVE SPOKEN!
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| Slayer666 Posts: 2466  |
I remember hearing Les hivers de notre époque by these guys. The entire album was pretty much the same melody repeated over and over again, only with a different background tempo each time. Still, I was fairly satisfied, it had that epic yet tragic atmosphere going on that I loved. Will be giving this a fair chance.
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603 |
Written by Slayer666 on 26.12.2011 at 23:20 Well Troy's several recommendations made me try it, of all people, so yeah, go ahead please 
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| Ag Fox Angel No More Elite Posts: 4774  |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 26.12.2011 at 14:01 the negativity is my salvation
---- loves 小巫
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| Slayer666 Posts: 2466 |
Written by Milena on 27.12.2011 at 02:10 Wait, what? How in the... Never mind. After careful consideration, I've decided I really don't want to know. Checked it myself, and yeah, pretty solid piece of atmospheric BM. Not a 8.5 by any stretch in my book, but Troy is just weird like that.
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603 |
Written by Slayer666 on 27.12.2011 at 21:47 Nothing weird, wanted to listen to something I usually don't so I asked the person with the taste most opposite of mine to give me a nice list to go through
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| Edmund Fogg Posts: 1752  |
All hail Quebec BM scene!!! Hahaha! Really well written review. It seems someone as taken Rozz as a mentor. Just kidding,you still have your own personal spice. I like the album a lot. Thanks for putting it under the spotlight.
---- You cannot sedate all the things you hate - MM The Observer is the source of reality - Bloom God damn it!! What did Diddy didn't do? - Satan
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by Edmund Fogg on 28.12.2011 at 18:23 The only reason I'd wanna live in Quebec is for the local BM scene. Hopefully my next review doesn't seem so... copied.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Edmund Fogg Posts: 1752 |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 31.12.2011 at 01:53 Haha! Don't worry about it. As I said this still has The Killjoy's touch. So iit feels more inspired then copied. It doesn't look like a Rozz revivalist review just yet.
---- You cannot sedate all the things you hate - MM The Observer is the source of reality - Bloom God damn it!! What did Diddy didn't do? - Satan
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| NocturnalStalker Metal Addict Posts: 889  |
Oh, my. It seems I've been listening to too much black metal albums lately... And it's all your fault, Troy, for writing such tempting reviews.
---- "And we are not who we think we are We are who we're afraid to be" - Lux Occulta "The Opening of Eleventh Sephirah"
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by NocturnalStalker on 04.01.2012 at 19:10 Glad to hear it. No such thing as too much black metal.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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