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Band: Përl
Album title: Les Maîtres du Silence
Release date: 14 May 2021
Label: Terre Ferme Records
Genre: Post-Black Metal, Post-Metal, Post-Rock
Tracklist:
01. Varulv
02. Je Parle au Sauvage
03. Monarques
04. L'(h)être Balafré
05. Le Veilleur
06. Sur le Seuil
07. Le Jour des Corneilles
08. Et Dans l'aube la Nuit Emplit Leurs Yeux
The French female-fronted trio Përl has made it clear already with their first album R(a)ve, released in 2013, that we are dealing with one of the most potential and interesting post-rock/metal bands. Përl were formed back in 2008, and have now released their most ambiguous and deliberate work, the epic eight tracker, Les Maîtres du Silence. It might be imprudent to say that Aline Boussaroque (guitar/vocals), Thibault Delafosse (drums), and Bastien Venzac (bass) made one of the best post-rock/metal albums of 2021 but no matter what, this album is stunning by offering a wide array of sonic variations. Përl are becoming more and more a metal band since in 2017 released mini-album Luminance, yet there are many shades of different styles.
Imagine if Portishead, Björk, Muse or The Mars Volta were on some kind of a post-black metal trip, and you might get a picture of what to expect. Përl makes many experiments thus their sound is something original, extravagant, immersive and full of emotional outbursts. The songs are mostly lengthy, around six to eight minutes, with a total playing time just above 50 minutes. By using many different elements, from post-black metal, blackgaze, indie rock, post-rock, psychedelic rock, ambient, doom, and even post-punk, Përl's songs are dynamic, sometimes captivating and melodic, with many acoustic parts and shivering dense atmospheric inputs. Don't be scared if the lyrics are all in French, this certainly adds a certain charm.
The frontwoman and guitarist Aline serves with deeply emotional vocals, from almost ethereal ones to crazy expressive rageful screams, and everything in between. The song structures are complex, with different shades that are nicely pouring into each other. Massive bass lines make a tapestry for the music to move in unexpecting manoeuvres, just listen to the amazing evocative "Sur le Seuil", to the post-metal anthem "Je parle au Sauvage" or to the gritty emotive "Le jour des Corneilles", where the insertion of Japanese traditional instrument shamisen is simply out of this world, and you might fall in love with what Përl has come up. Guitars are relentless, from heavy drives to soft jazzy experiments, and drumming is precise, vibrating, sometimes crushing but most of all contemplative. Technically very good, explosive, and with a certain post-punkish vibe, the songs are full of suspense and building-up pathos, yet so very colourful and intimately melancholic.
The album was mastered by post-everything master Magnus Lindberg of Cult Of Luna, and this adds another dimension to the already good production. I'm almost certain that the band will appeal to fans of Alcest, Cult Of Luna, Isis, Agalloch, Gold or Esben And The Witch, to name a few, yet Përl doesn't sound like any of them. Adorned with evocative cover art, Les Maîtres du Silence is an adventurous album but still, it needs many listens before it reveals all of its secrets. It's addictive, raw, strangely cinematic and sincere, rageful and dreamy. Les Maîtres du Silence is without any doubt the best offering by so many times overlooked Përl until now, and each fan of post-rock/metal should get it without any excuses.
The review was written by Tomaz
Rating: 8,5/10
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