HARDWARES

Strike one on that band name, strike two on the “you won't remember it tomorrow” album name, so this one-man Parisian act better deliver the goods here on his first album. And he does, even though I have as hard a time swallowing those “I'm morose so I'll sing like the guy from TIAMAT or MOONSPELL or whoever else has a really low voice” vocals as anyone, but elsewhere, man, there's good taste all over the place here, from the great guitar work and cool drumming to the keyboard flourishes (whoa, did I just say that?). This one is firmly rooted in Gothenburg sounds, and it takes that excellent if not overdone subgenre and instills a decent amount of blackened overtones and symphonic sounds to spice things up just enough to actually make you take notice, if you're a fan of these particular subgenres of our beloved metal. Trouble is, these subgenres are so overcrowded it's nothing but elbows pushing elbows over there; hard to imagine a one-man band managing to consistently stay ahead of the pack (other trouble is the distracting drum sound, which isn't as clicky and clacky as many but still just ain't natural). But ahead he is for now, so if I didn't make you run for the hills by mentioning Tiamat and Moonspell in sentence two up there and you're a Gothen-fan, stick around for the ride.