Post-Metal is a genre that definitely needs no more introduction. There have been so many variations upon the loud-quiet-dynamic, the calm-before-the-storm-image, the wave-upon-wave-comparisons. Isis, Aereogramme, Neurosis, you name it. And yet, there is something gripping about that genre when well-done.
À L’Ombre d’Héméra from Quebec is one of the bands that remind you of the place inside where your love for post-metal comes from or why one has fallen in love with the genre. The way they build atmosphere by short waves rippling through the water surface at the beginning of their EP En Route vers le Grand Vide that are then overladen with harsh noise riffs just before the singer kicks in is simply great. The second track “La fin d’un cycle” opens with a similar arrangement but they trick the listener, this time the guitar motif at the beginning is only a bit longer and not opening crystalline but shortening dark, on the other side the riffs are not that harsh but rather warm and crispy so that the band displays their strong songwriting skills on this their third release (after a full-length in 2017 and an EP in 2018).
It is pretty amazing to hear them wave some nearly proggish licks into their songs and play with the aforementioned metaphors of calm before the storm, wave upon wave and so on. All of these by now stereotypical metaphors can be used for En Route vers le Grand Vide but there is something more to their songs maybe it’s their affinity for clean sounds contra harsh riffs or their ability to prolong their epics but not to an excessive end (the shortest song is 7:35 minutes, the longest 9:12). They seem to understand that too long is simply too long.
Not to use superlatives too early, but this band might be up for something great. They know how to write good songs, how to structure a record and how to keep the listener attentive. However, it remains to be seen if they can keep up that level or maybe even raise the bar on a new full-length.
