De Mal En Pire – Sã Mo
Release Date: 15th March
Label: Self Released
Bandcamp
Genre: Post-Hardcore, Post-Metal, Post-Man Pat, Progressive, Sludge.
FFO: Rosetta, Knut, Cult Of Luna, Psychonaut.
Review By: John Newlands
De Mal En Pire are a French Canadian post-hardcore quartet which officially formed in 2022 and is comprised of veterans in the local Quebec metal scene. Sã Mo (a title made from a phonetic language and based on track titles on the album), is the debut album for the band which is self released, self recorded and mixed /mastered at by Maxime Lacroix, House of Gain Studio.
The inspiration behind the concept of the album Sã Mo finds its roots in French Romantic artist Théodore Géricault’s work titled “The Raft of the Medusa”. The painting depicts a group of sailors whose ship was wrecked, and they ended up pulling together debris to make a raft which at first held 147 folk, but that was whittled down to 15 over the 13 days they were lost at sea. The raft carried survivors to the borders of human experience. They became mad, dehydrated and starved. They ate their dead companions, and killed the weakest among them as a means of survival, and once rescued were forever changed.
I have listened to Sã Mo front to back maybe 10 times, so as you could guess from that, it’s pretty awesome! The album opens with L’Ancre de la Douleur Triangulaire (The Triangular Pain Anchor) which reminds of Rosetta or Knut, but without getting too close. Following tracks Anachorète (Anchorite) and Cet Mots (These Words) follow suit, with awesome riffs and hooks with both screamed and clean vocals that made me think of Psychonaut or Hippotraktor. Track 4 Delire Mantique (Manic Delirium) is the most “hardcore” of the offerings on Sã Mo, and for me gave some Converge / Botch vibes but again holding onto the distinct identity crafted of De Mal En Pire.
For me standouts are L’Astre de Velours (the Velvet Star) and Les Amants du Désordre (Lovers of Disorder) with the latter having an Amenra feel to the main riff / guitar sound, which is not a bad thing AT ALL.
Track 8 (Cent Maux) marks a shift in tone in the album, moving to a mellower, spacey vibe. It’s the longest track on the album and I must say, at points it does feel a bit drawn out and somewhat distracts from the pacing of the album. For me, the track never really goes anywhere. I would perhaps have preferred if the album had closed out with the following track, l’Apogée des Oubliés (The Apogee of the Forgotten) and scrapped the last track Sans Mot (Without Words).
The total runtime of the album is 50 mins, and normally I would say that this is 10–15 mins too long for a post-hardcore album. I do very much appreciate and respect that the band were exploring a concept, and that each of the songs fits a specific narrative to complete the story. By translating the song titles (thanks to Google translate), it became apparent that each track was a key piece to the whole puzzle. To remove one or two of the tracks would be like cutting a story short, or editing out the last 15 mins of a movie, making it incomplete and nonsensical.
For that reason, I am completely willing to overlook everything I wrote above regarding album length and change in tone for the last 3 tracks. I choose to believe that this is in fact intentional, and perhaps is fitting for the narrative being explored. Having picked up on the exceptional thought and attention to detail that the band has put into absolutely everything in the album, I don’t think this is a work that is meant to go out on a bang.
Perhaps we are supposed to lament in the desolation and tragedy experienced by those depicted in The Raft of the Medusa, and even those who survived would be forever changed and sorrow would forever be ingrained in their very being. Therefore, fading out with Sans Mot (Without Words) is the perfect “final brushstroke” to this album.
If you can’t tell, I loved this album and I can see myself continuing to revisit it throughout 2024. I think the concept is very interesting, production is impeccable, and the artwork fits fantastically with the whole vibe of the album. I’d love a t-shirt with the artwork and cheeky wee colour vinyl would fit nicely to my collection, but from what I’ve seen on Bandcamp, only CDs are available. So maybe in the future.
Lastly, I would very much like to get my hands on an English translation of the poems that make up the lyrics, to further understand and enjoy the concept being explored. If anyone in the band reads this one, please hook me up!
De Mal En Pire have a new fan here in Norway, and I will definitely be keeping an eye on anything they do in the future. A fantastic debut and I recommend any readers that got this far in my review to check it out! 
(4.5 / 5)
