When ladies and gentlemen speak about France, many think of exclusive wines and the famous French cuisine. Personally, I have come to associate France with something vastly different, namely black metal. The French black metal scene is extremely musically diverse. Darkenhöld certainly contributes to this, by providing their own unique flavour – I would not say it is the type of castle cellar aged, so called ‘sophisticated’ output. No, “Arcanes & Sortilèges” rather offers a taste more energetic, exciting and captivating.
Musically, this is much more positive than the typical black metal album. The music is heavily spiced with power/speed metal herbs. This, combined with all the castles, wizards, wyverns etc moves your mind so you fuckin’ loose it and suddenly, you are a dedicated believer in the fact that you are listening to a completely mad Blind Guardian on anabolic steroids or something. On top of that, you get acoustic guitar parts, drum fills and of course melodic ‘black metal’. Yeah, it’s both crazy and lovely.
Back to the French wine and ‘grub’ – I would love to pop a bottle of Beaujolais with frog legs and snails, and if these delicacies come together with “Arcanes & Sortilèges”, or some other Darkenhöld vinyl, I for sure am truly happy…
Darkenhöld – Arcanes & Sortilèges on Spotify
It is possible to listen to the album on Spotify:
