L'esprit Du Clan
Chapitre III - Corpus Delicti
6.8
Synopsis:
Unearth + French = L'Esprit du Clan
Review:
Theoretically, if you could put in an audio CD and get the same audio options as DVD’s, if you put in Unearth’s newer style and set the audio to “French” you would get French metalers L'Esprit du Clan and the third chapter in their discography dating back to 2002.
Actually, L'Esprit du Clan has been a band on my periphery for a while now, as I checked this album out before Galy got a hold of it, when it was released on France’s Enragé Productions back in 2007, to see if their newer modern metalcore/American metal sound was an improvement over their more basic hardcore roots. It is, but it’s still a fairly rudimentary metalcore sound with the expected robust production, At The Gates dual guitars, thrashing, slicing melodies all wrapped up in a hardcore guise. However, the sticking point, other than its familiar sound, will be the all French lyrics.
And that’s not me being ethno centric, it’s just that the cadence and tone of the language, even when delivered by Arsene’s gruff throaty shouts, just doesn’t sound right. Certain languages just fit certain styles of music. French sounds great in the more romantically styled Gothic metal or black metal and such, but for stern metalcore it’s just a bit odd. That being said, you have to give the band credit for sticking to their ethnic roots, even though their music is utterly American metal.
While not a real barnstormer of a record, there are some solid moments and again, if you like Unearth’s newer stuff as well as the likes of Killswitch Engage, All That Remains and such, L'Esprit du Clan will satisfy your need for this style. Due to the language however, they come across as slightly ‘different’. Tracks like introductory opener “Mesdames & Messieurs”, galloping “Circus FréNéSie”, “Ailleurs” and its solid opening riff, energetic gait of “DernièRes Minutes” and introspective closer "1992" are all competent, entertaining examples of the genre that show Europe can do this style pretty well.
A couple of missteps highlight the language barrier such as the reggae breaks in “Un Message De Paix” and the ballad “J'Ai Pas Les Mots”, but otherwise this is a solid album that should hold folks over until the bigger name American counterparts come up with their newest efforts.
