Les Fragments Du Chaos
A whole lot of bands are sharing the same name, mostly because it’s really generic like “Hate” or such. Pendulum seems to be one of these namens, as there are four bands claiming it, but only one if it will be the object of “research” today. The band in question is, of course, the french one, but the biggest question is: Will the music be innovative, although the bands name isn’t? Read on.
Neither the cover, nor the title are innovative in any way and so are the first seconds of the opening track. This never really changes across the record, as all of the tracks feature some structures, elements or melodies that you could have heard in some other band before. That’s not really disastrous though, but more to that later. The tracks aren’t similiar to any black metal, of course, they are similiar to some of the better known french black metal bands concerning melodies, mood and the sound of the vocals. If you want to outline the sound in a really rough manner you could say it’s a more aggressive, faster version of Mortiferas instrumentals combined with vocals that remind me of Cebren-Khal and similiar bands.
The majority of the tracks is done in an interplay of mid- and up-tempo structures and unleashes a furious storm, that is streaked with melancholy and despair. The transitions between the parts are as fluent as the tracks are in general and therefore everything seems to be in a natural flow, which leaves nothing to complain about at this point. The guitars mostly play fast tremolo riffs which creates some kind of pulse that are really thrilling, but also calmer parts with a lot of well arranged rhythm/melody structures are presented. The guitars aren’t the only instruments that are really well done, as the drums are playing complex patterns without a flaw as well, no matter at which tempo they are done. The tracks are perfected with the varied vocals that feature either high pitched screams, low-pitched sobs or even some clean passages.
The compositions are quite well done, in terms of structure, as the transitions between the interplays of faster and calmer passages are fluently done and well scattered over the playing time of the tracks. The main point of criticism would still be the composition, though. You can hear, that they have done their best to create good tracks but the compositions lack something new and refreshing to make the tracks catchy. Of course, there are some exceptions and some songs are quite good as well. One good example would be Le Poison that’s really catchy and dynamic and some other melodies are quite nice as well (for instance the main theme in La Folie). The quintessence remains the same: The songs can’t exceed the upper-intermediate level and could need some improvements. The production is, especially for an underground release, well done as they managed to keep some rawness while creating a clear and organic sound.
Conclusion:
Pendulums debut record Les Fragments du Chaos is a difficult one. On the one hand there are well structured songs with loads of variation, on the other hand there is too less innovation in terms of melody and riffs. Would you close with this statement, the record wouldn’t get too much points, but there is more to see. The songs are really well played and every instrument (and the vocals of course) fits perfectly to the sound and there are some catchy melodies scattered over the record as well. All in all, Les Fragments Du Chaos is a well done record, but it still won’t exceed the upper-intermediate quality level.
Rating: 82/100
Date of release: January, 11th 2012
Tracklist:
| 1. | L’Acier | 04:43 | |
| 2. | Le Verre | 04:03 | |
| 3. | Le Poison | 06:07 | |
| 4. | La Corde | 04:48 | |
| 5. | La Poudre | 06:32 | |
| 6. | Le Vide | 03:40 | |
| 7. | La Nature | 05:49 | |
| 8. | La Folie | 03:53 | |
| Total Playing Time: | 39:35 | ||
