Cerbère – Cendre
Release Date: 27th January 2023
Label: Chien Noir
Bandcamp
Genre: Blackened Sludge/Doom.
FFO: Celeste, Beggar, Wolok, Yatra.
Review By: Paul Cairney
So I got a bit confused when Bossman Dave fired through the debut album from French Blackened Doom outfit, Cerbère, it is only 3 tracks long. I’m old enough to remember when people bought CD singles – is this still a thing? – and I have CD singles with 4 tracks on them. So, 3 songs does not an album make, my archaic brain was telling me, especially when our gallant Frenchmen have a debut EP with only 3 tracks!
Turns out I was wrong. At over 40 minutes long, Cendre (or ‘Ash’ in English according to Google Translate) delivers a monolithic punch to your temple with each crushing riff contained within each of the 3 songs. The lyrics are barked out in a Black Metal style, something that sets the album apart from other Doom bands. Many of their modern contemporaries may feature a female vocal, or growls more akin to Death Metal. Cerbère combine dirty, filthy, fuzzy, magnificent riffs with genuine nasty vocals and every minute of its run time is a joy to behold, including the very lengthy final track.
Cendre is a dark album, lyrically, the opening title track thematically contains ‘the torments of a youth lived in boredom, hatred, frustration and rejection’, according to the band themselves. Like all good extreme albums, it is difficult to make the lyrics out, but that does not matter – darkness permeates throughout.
Perhaps, however, the most impressive aspect of the album is in the final track, ‘Les Tours de Set’ (apparently ‘The Towers of Set’ according to Google Translate – I really should have worked harder in my French Class at school). At 1 second shy of 23 minutes, it is more than double the length of any other song. Based on the film, ‘Conan the Barbarian’ (aah – it is the Towers of Set), Cerbère boast the juice to give you almost 8 minutes of fuzzy feedback. Fading the track out into the feedback is a masterstroke. Even though the notes have ended, I swear you can still hear them as the feedback maintains its grip on the end of the song. I have listened to these 3 tracks multiple times over the past week, and I am yet to stop the song. I am actually 18 and ½ minutes into the song as I type.
Cendre impressed me so much, I have also listened to Cerbère’s debut EP on more than one occasion – I implore you to check this out on Bandcamp. Slightly shorter than the debut album, it is pretty much more of the same, hugely impressive and very enjoyable.
The sad fact is that this album will not be for everyone. Not everyone will stay until the end of ‘Les Tours de Set’, and you should – trust me. Not everyone will buy into the vocal style. These people like their sludgy doom safe and predictable, and ultimately shouldn’t be trusted.
In a perfect world, Cerbère will be booked for numerous festivals this year. In a perfect world, Cendre will be listened to by fans of all genres of metal. Even though it is very early in the year, this should be sitting comfortably in many end of year lists.
(5 / 5)
