Differently to the most of black metal bands that travel into the
history of middle ages with their lyrics and usually talk about, the Canadian
band Catuvolcus chose another theme instead and they focused on the Gaul.
The band was formed in 2007 in Quebec; it includes 4 members,
Pierre-Alexandre Plessix in the vocals, Maxime Côté in the guitars, Etienne
Gallo in the Drums and Dominic Forest Lapointe in the Bass Guitar.
Just like their other releases, Catuvolcus are going to make us travel
through the pages of history with their second album Gergovia released in 2012. This
concept-album is about one of the most important battles in Gallic wars; it’s
between the Gaul and the Roman legions guided by Julius Caesar that took place
in the Gergovie oppidum in Arverne and which ended with the victory of the
Gaul. It features nine titles, started by an acoustic prologue with the sound
of rain, wind, mystery; and ended by an epic epilogue. Every track contains some
interesting events... I would say every track is a chapter of the story because
the writing process is full of narration and seems like you're reading a book while
reading the lyrics and what make them more epic is that they're in French and
we all know how the pronunciation of this language is so amazing. Adding to
that a very atmospheric music that automatically sends you to 52 BC; you
totally feel like you’re in the middle of that battle, seeing all that blood
and hearing all the strikes of the swords.
And while Maxime Côté and Matrak Tveskaeg (Ex bass-player) amuse us with their
epic riffs and solos, and that powerful drums excites us. Pierre-Alexandre
Plessix played an important role too with his mighty grunt and some clean voice.
This album is melodic and brutal in the same time; we can taste the victory
as we can taste the defeat; it ends with a calm acoustic epilogue expressing
the end of the battle and it connects with the prologue, that's what makes you
not feel that “break” when you replay the album, it automatically makes you want
to replay it without taking you out of the atmosphere of the battle.
If you really want to try a new black metal theme and a different
history, if you want to live some instants from the antiquity you should check
out CATUVOLCUS, a band with so much power and many stories to narrate us.
Check out the band here.
Rating : 8/10
Check out the band here.
Rating : 8/10
