Band info
Band: Masse D’Armes
Album: ‘Masse D’Armes‘
Released: November 8th, 2024
Genre: Black metal, dungeon synth
Location: Canada
Review
Masse D’Armes is a new project emerging from Quebec, and it is a pleasure to present their debut mini album today. The music contained in this release is atmospheric black metal/dungeon synth with medieval themes. So yes full escapism, castles, armour, swords… Only it is a dark fantasy story rather than a heroic one. The fields of the medieval land are not full of sun and grain but burned, the armour is not shining but is cracked, the swords do not swiftly defeat the enemies but are almost broken from defeating so many attacks… There are no cheerful villages, they are abandoned in a hurry from looters. There are no honorable epic duels, there are rampant and brutal skirmishes, there is no celebration of victory there is a grim celebration of another surviving day and hoping for another. Nothing but the merry life of a medieval warrior most of the time. The image that comes to mind is that of a resting knight, thrusting his sword into the ground and enjoying a moment’s pause between skirmishes and adventures by the fire in a ruined tower.
Musically, we have here a very harmonious composition that makes up a satisfactory whole. Clearly blended into the synth landscapes are two larger stories with decent atmospheric black metal and one hymn-like chant at the end. Three different vocals also add to the atmosphere, once it’s almost choral singing and melodic, and once it’s damning vocals. The same is the case with the synth moments, as with the bass, guitar and drums -they are just so well played and composed and manage to surprise on such an altogether short material.
Masse D’Armes is definitely a project worth watching, even though as we mentioned the story to the music is complete escapism you can be sure that the 4 people responsible for this project agree with our message. We would like to remind you that Antifascist Black Metal Network is a vessel standing against racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism or any oppression.
Other links and platforms:
BC: https://massedarmesqc.bandcamp.com/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/masse.darmes/?