About two years ago, I first discovered Enterré Vivant, an atmospheric black metal band that mixes French and Japanese influences. In my review of their 2023 album Shigenso, I was greatly impressed by their performance and production quality, delivering a combination of melancholic, enthralling ambience and intense, catchy black metal punctuated by harsh vocals. Since then, I've delved even further into Japanese culture: reading manga, watching anime, learning the language with Duolingo, and even visiting Japan for a week last September!
With the context of all of these experiences, I was incredibly excited to listen to the next album of Enterré Vivant, Akuzaï. Unfortunately, as soon as the first track began, I had an uneasy feeling this album was not what I had expected.
Akuzaï is bookended by interlude tracks with Japanese audio samples. Perhaps they are quite impactful for native speakers to hear, but for someone who doesn't understand what is being said, there isn't really anything I find interesting about the sampling. In fact, while the first track drags on for far too long, the final track is far more annoying than immersive, as my ears are assaulted by the sounds of a screeching child.
After the intro, the first real song, “Chûtô”, begins, and I feel slightly more optimistic. Soothing flute and acoustic guitar playing transition to mid-tempo black metal that you can bob your head to. The strained, blackened, Japanese vocals kick in, but don't leave a good first impression. Some strange moaning in the background, together with the increasingly mediocre-sounding instrumentation makes me truly wonder if I’m listening to the same band that made Shigenso.
The vocals only get worse on “Sesshô”, sounding extremely forced and awkward, distracting from the instrumentation, rather than working in harmony. And, as if the album is trying to actively dissuade me from listening any further, the very next song, “Warugushi” (a 36-second interlude), presents the most unbearable example of gargling vocals on Akuzaï.
Well, as they say, things can only go up from here. And, surprisingly, they do, somewhat. The best songs on the album are found in the second half, especially on “Jain” and “Kigo”. “Jain” is quite reminiscent of their style on Shigenso, presenting a combination that I wished would appear more often on Akuzaï. Here, the blackened screams sound triumphant within the layered, melancholic atmosphere of elegant piano playing and tremolo-picked riffs. “Kigo” builds on this approach, additionally emphasizing the use of synth melodies, which provide a much-needed feeling of grandiosity and epicness.
Unfortunately, these actually good moments are few and far between, and, as mentioned earlier, the album ends in a lacklustre way as well. To be honest, it was difficult to write this review, both because Akuzaï was such a disappointing follow-up to their previous release, and because it was simply a chore to listen to. Not all vocals here are bad, per se. For example, the French vocals on “Mogo” sound far more convincingly menacing than on “Warugushi”. Whether this is because some Japanese and French vocals are provided by two different singers, I can't say. But, even if this were the case, it is astounding how the quality in not only the vocals, but also in terms of engaging instrumentation, in sound, and in overall atmosphere has drastically dropped in comparison to their previous album.
Is this a momentary lapse of talent or creative ideas for Enterré Vivant? Or was Shigenso a unique achievement that can't be reproduced? Either way, I hope this band continue their efforts, focusing on the style they showed here on “Jain” and “Kigo”, and perhaps they will be able to turn this ship around with their next album. Until then, I'll stick with listening to 2023's Shigenso.
