Neige et Noirceur - La Seigneurie Des Loups (2010)

I've said it before and I'll say it again - Something seriously freakin' amazing is happening up in Quebec... well, at least as far as Black Metal is concerned. In recent years bands, such as; Forteresse, Gris and Sombres Forêts have released exceptional and original sounding black metal records, which have forced folks worldwide to take notice. Now enter, Neige et Noirceur.

Neige et Noirceur's origins date back to 2005 when the band was formed as the solo project of Zifond in Montreal, Quebec and by the time he released this one, 'La Seigneurie Des Loups' last year he also had a couple demos, singles, splits and of course one other album titled, 'Crépuscule Hivernal sans Fin sur les Terres de la Guerre.'

The bands music could probably best be described as ambient black metal as there's almost always some sort of backing synth arrangement riding alongside all of the blackened chaos. Also much like other bands in this genre the majority of the five songs are over the ten minute mark totaling for forty seven minutes altogether. However Zifond also occasionally includes some folk influences within his raging Norse-ish sounding black metal attack and its here where I think the album only escalates further.

'Croix de feu croix de fer' opens with the sounds of a mouth harp before storming through thirteen minutes of thunderous black metal. I think one of the things you'll quickly notice about this band is that there is a lot going on and you'll have to pay attention because some of its lost in the production. For starters the synths by no means sound typical and just as a point of reference they seem to remind me of the odder synth arrangements found on Enslaved's debut, 'Vikingligr Veldi.' The tremolo styled riffs are exceptional on this song and record in general and when the acoustic guitars occasionally pop up it all blends quite well together. The bass guitar is also noticeably present and it adds an ominous vibe amongst all the bedlam. However what I really enjoy about this record is that the music seems to be rather energetic at times and has a very powerful drive behind it, which at least for me keeps me going and longing to here where things will go from each section to the next.

'Ancien Folklore Québécois' is another stunning piece on this record that blends acoustic music and frantic black metal perfectly, although the folk parts are actually sampled from a traditional Quebecois folk ensemble named, La Bottine Souriante, but its all quite catchy and memorable in the end. '1839' however is a short acoustic piece actually performed by Zifond and I just adore it since it has this timeless quality to it that brings you back to the 19th century during its duration.

Things triumphantly continue onwards with the title track and also longest at sixteen minutes, 'La Seigneurie Des Loups.' Opening with samples of wolves munching and horses whining alongside backing ambiance some heavy doom-ish dominating riffs eventually take hold as the momentum of the ambiance increases and quite soon after the music returns to pure black metal again. This particular one has a lot of what made the opening song so great as well it also features a minor psychedelic-ish vibe to it later on in the song. The samples also continue popping up here and there and it would seem Zifond is fond of using them since they are all over this album. 'Les Plaines De Krolok' is also quite good, although its an almost entirely ambient piece, but it still ends the album on a high note.

The album is not perfection though as I think some parts could have been shortened and made room for an additional song, but what you going to do? Otherwise though I think, 'La Seigneurie Des Loup' is a success and its enough motivation to track down Zifond's other releases as well to continue to follow the stunning Quebecois Black Metal scene.