France’s Meurtrières emerge with Ronde De Nuit, their first full-length. Stocked with seven songs of hard-charging, energetic old-school metal, Meurtrières shows they are one of French metal’s most promising young bands. 

Lyon, France’s Meurtrières has not strayed far from their original goal of writing old-school, epic heavy metal with medieval overtones on their newest effort, Ronde De Nuit. If anything, the band (consisting of new vocalist Fiona, the guitar tandem of Flo Spector and Olivier, bassist Xavier and drummer Thomas) has taken what they started on their well-received 2020 self-titled EP and added new layers of complexity and depth. It is the natural transition for a band gaining more confidence in its songwriting abilities. 
Yet the noticeable change starts in the vocal spot. Out is the original frontwoman Fleur and in her place is Fiona. Meurtrières wasted little time introducing Fiona — the band started playing live shows and writing new material with her right after the release of the EP, thus, giving Meurtrières ample time to hone its new material. And Fiona fits the band’s hard-charging, gallant music like a glove, coming away with a stronghold of fiery, epic choruses — all sung in the Meurtrières’ native tongue. 

The lyrical subject matter on Ronde De Nuit still spans the medieval domain but with increased emphasis on paintings by Rembrandt (The Night Watch) and Johann Heinrich (Füssli). The band aimed to make the songs “pictorial,” reflecting imaginary portraits to draw in the listener. Except for “Aucun Homme, Aucun Dogme, Aucune Croix” (which is a known French medieval legend about a real woman), the songs on Ronde De Nuit are based on fantasy with a desired fate: All the depicted characters are doomed to tragedy, for in the world of Meurtrières, there is no such thing as crowned kings and queens and even glorious warriors. 

Artwork by Ivan Brun rounds out a package that perfectly ties in thematically with the desperate and dark themes of the lyrics. It is a fitting component to an album laced with stunning visuals and epic, old-school metal of the highest order!

Pre-order:

CD: https://tinyurl.com/e7hv99zx

LP BLACK: https://tinyurl.com/5n9a6j23

LP LMT TRASPARENT RED LMT 200: https://tinyurl.com/yjec2ccw

LP CRYSTAL CLEAR LMT 100: https://tinyurl.com/2aswuumt

BANDCAMP: https://meurtrieres.bandcamp.com/album/ronde-de-nuit

AMAZON: https://amzn.to/3rYa8jz

Line-up:

Fiona – Vocals
Flo Spector – Guitar
Olivier – Guitar
Xavier – Bass
Thomas – Drums

http://www.gatesofhellrecords.com/ https://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com/ 

Review:

There was always a thing with French metal bands. At least for me and I believe I am not alone on that island. They carry this unique genuine flavor that sets the French scene a bit apart from everyone else. And its not only the native language which is heavily present in their artistic output. It’s probably also this one-of-a-kind combo of royal class and refined taste of creativity that’s not for everybody to chew. By far this explains the “love them or hate them” attitude of fans coming from outside of the French bubble, that makes this topic often controversial and even more often undermined by the metal community worldwide. 

Without a doubt, the metal makers coming from France have a lot to offer to the eager audience and the medieval heroes of Meurtrières proudly join their ranks. Stationed in Lyon, with a leading lady on the vocals and heavily invested in French medieval legends, their debut release called “Ronde De Nuit” (literally translates as a “Night Watch”), lights up the torches to take us on an epic journey in the gruesome time of the Age of Darkness. With five years of existence and one self-title EP behind them, Meurtrières (it takes stoic repetitions till you get to properly pronounce that) are taking a stance to defend the honor of their home metal scene and, with a courageous battle cry in this 7-track album. 

They say that once you pass the “Rubicon” there is no turning back. Listening to the intro strikes of this opener, probably this saying is spot on. Its heavy and dense sound is grabbing you by the throat, dragging you in the misty maze of hellish vocals and sticky riffs. Drums are keeping a solid structure of this song, commanding the beat and not letting the tempo fade away for a second. If you never heard anything from Meurtrières (and I never did), this primary encounter raises the stakes and expectations for the next chapters to follow. Worth mentioning that this initial track is the longest of the album, which makes me believe that the band wanted to make a strong statement just from the very first note and capture our attention, keeping it hostage until the end of the night watch. 

Its almost non-realistic to have a medieval themed album, movie or a painting, without the ever-persistent shade of religious faith. “Aucun homme, aucun dogme, aucune croix” (No man, no dogma, no cross) puts that to the table, making the title bit of a heresy far cry. The upbeat intro has a magnificent oldschool vibe, rebelling against the norms of boredom, quickly repelling any doubt of a cliché. Vocal tonality vividly contributes to the overall sensation of an almost renaissance revolution, gradually building momentum towards a chorus ready to explode. Most definitely the leading lady knows how to captivate the crowd, like her past predecessor Joan of Arc. “Tempête & Naufrage” (Storm & Shipwreck) takes us by storm, hitting with a signature introduction, depicting a wild whirlwind of buzzing guitars, making space for waves of high-pitched singing, pounding drum section, smashing us directly toward the rocks! That track really has a different, way richer stylistics, richness in expression and if you follow closely both sound and lyrics, you can get immediately immersed to the deepest depths of metal abyss. 

Nightfall is upon us, we’re in the middle of our expedition and its title track time! “Ronde De Nuit” (Night Watch) greets us with kind of heavy rock’n’roll orchestration and here the vocals seem to be put in front on purpose. Most certainly more vibrant and melodious, enthusiastic and overwhelmingly distinctive. There is nothing musically dark here, on the contrary, the track ignites animated headbanging to an extent that the listener could sense some power metal elements. In fact, this is a tale of merciless mercenaries, roaming the dodgy streets of a small village, surrounded by rumors and superstitions, annihilating all hope for forgiveness. 

With clear conscious I would refer to “Alma Mater¨ (in modern days we use to call universities by that notion) as a wonderful piece of academical metal, playful by nature, easy to recognize with the typical marching tempo of the drums, rapidly changing rhythm and colorful puzzle of emotional extremes, ranging from a single voice bark to demonical verses, calling forces from the oblivion. There is something cruel and agonizing feeling, piercing in the lyrics as a whole, which makes me think that the messages spread in this track are far from scholastic. A wonderful bridge to throw us from right in the cold embrace of the “Chevaleresses Du Chaos” (Knight-ladies of chaos). With all due respect to the songs so far, that one really feels the most “complete” and properly designed. The overall sensation is for a dark knight saga, filled with medieval mysticism, a tale of horrible battlefield misdeeds committed under the veil of feminine fatal attraction. There is nothing chaotic in the musical composition of that piece, each element following the previous with formidable grace, which makes you hit “Replay” over and over again.  

For closing the album, the band has decided to open the casket and to let loose “La revenante”. Here the translation could be debatable, though based on the old medieval French folklore, we can call this one “The Ghost” …or “The Zombie” if you prefer a more commercial term. Totally understandable, the quintet is filling the gap of what is a super natural element of Middle Ages spooky chronicles, an expression of malice, jumping out of the underworld to haunt the poor souls of mortal sinners. From artistic standpoint, the song is a powerful battering ram, bashing the barricades of mainstream metal, skillfully using their debris to engineer the next charge of Meurtrières.

Conclusion:

Beyond the shadow of a doubt, the sacral 7 song saga of the French chevaliers, comes as a delightful revelation, from a scene often standing in the shadows of more renowned metal dominions. What we have here, is a raw diamond that will shine even brighter, following some persistent polishing, an in the meantime could leave a few nasty cuts on those unprepared to properly handle it. I am quite optimistic that the foundation laid with “Ronde De Nuit” will crystallise to a precious jewel level in a future sophomore, fuelled by fan accolades from continental Europe and beyond. Finally, a great kudos to the artwork of the album cover, which combines visual simplicity with the mystifying expressivity of еecclesiastical stained glass. 

THENWOTHM SCORE: 8/10