01. Riposte
02. Le Chant Des Braves
03. L’Excusé
04. Le Carneval Du Roi Des Vers
05. Sépulture
06. Aux Heures Désespérées
07. À Ces Batailles Abandonnées
08. …Et Aux Hommes Misérables

I understand the French black metal scene is somewhat different to all the others, but this guy goes as far as giving blackened thrash an entirely unique approach.

The French black metal scene is perhaps best known for its contributions towards the dissonant experimental/avantgarde end of the genre, with bands such as Deathspell Omega, Blut Aus Nord, and The Great Old Ones among their most famous exports. However, if you take a step back and look at the bigger picture, it's an expansive and diverse scene that also covers a fair share of bands on the melodic end of the scale. Archvile King is a one-man project formed in 2019 by multi-instrumentalist Baurus that sits towards this more melodic end of the spectrum. In 2022 the project released the full-length debut À La Ruine, an album which, although relatively overlooked, generally received a positive reception for its ferocious combination of old-school thrash and traditional black metal. Now, Archvile King hopes to pick up right from where the debut left off with sophomore effort Aux Heures Désespérées.

Aux Heures Désespérées follows a conceptual theme where listeners delve into the murky inhospitable swamps of an imaginative world where dwells the King of worms. Musically, it's sprawling with diversity, merging black, thrash, and heavy metal with a substantial portion of synth orchestrations that bring the rich and vibrant fantasy world that the story is centred around vividly to life. This is achieved through high-quality instrumentation performed entirely by standalone musician Baurus. The guitars vary from savage razor-sharp tremolos to old-school thrash riffs that often incorporate dark medieval folk melodies, along with the odd breakneck solo. The rhythm section is mostly relentless, consisting of rampant blast beats, while the vocals are performed in the classic raspy manner that's often associated with traditional black metal. Several slower sections break the mould, acting as short atmospheric interludes through the use of dungeon synth and various samples and sound effects.

One-man projects such as this often astonish me; this doesn't seem to be a case of throwing everything together and hoping for the best, or experimenting at will. Every note from every instrument is well thought through, performed with real passion, and composed, arranged, and layered with professionalism. The melodies here might not contain irresistible hooks or high-end memorability but they don't feel copied or uninspired in any way. Credit also has to be given to the high-standard production as it's mixed entirely by Baurus himself, so not only does he take sole songwriting and instrumental duties, he covers and does a good job on the production too. 

Blackened thrash usually falls into a specific niche that's often fairly predictable and simplistic, but that's not the case for Aux Heures Désespérées here; it's actually quite an unorthodox approach to the genre. I wouldn't necessarily tag it as blackened thrash alone, but rather black metal with thrash and various other elements merged in. It might not be as experimental, dissonant, or atmospheric as what other bands across the French black metal scene are renowned for, but the project has built an identity that's undeniably unique and speaks volumes about the standards of the French black metal scene today.

Performance:	7
Songwriting:	7
Originality:	8
Production:	7