Comprising a mere two tracks, albeit clocking in at thirty-five minutes, Les avatars du vide is a conceptual set from atmospheric black metal exponents Blurr Thrower. A progressive, philosophical work, Les Avatars du vide follows in the footsteps of acts such as Blut Aus Nord, looking deep into the essence of humanity via complex emotions such as neurosis and personal fear. The album is released via the well-respected Les Acteurs de l’Ombre Productions and, as with the majority of their releases, comes handsomely packaged in a limited-edition digipack (1300 copies) complete with evocative artwork courtesy of Came Roy de Rat (the artist responsible for so much of what LADLO release).
With an eighteen-minute runtime, the first of the two tracks on offer takes the necessary time to creep into view from under the cover of a haze of dense reverb. Par-dela les aubes emerges as an eerie, strangely beautiful piece of music, caught in a tug of war between early Pink Floyd and Burzum. As the piece steadily builds momentum, razor sharp guitars cut across the mix, obscuring the early glimpses of pastoral serenity and providing the backdrop against which the harrowing vocals are dashed. Best played loud, the music envelops the listener, by turns caressing and then savaging, the omnipresent sense of threat erupting into full-blown acts of violence only after the listener has been hypnotised into submission. With the lyrics written in French and further buried under miasmic echo, it is handy that they’re also printed on the album sleeve for those wishing to dig deeper into the concept, but even without working through the text, the music successfully evokes the creeping dread of an always-connected society – the subtle ebb and flow of the music allowing for post-rock soundscaping amidst the searing riffs and relentless blast beats. When Blurr thrower finally allow themselves to let go, it is with some relief that the listener finally succumbs to the track’s devastating conclusion the guitars raging and burning before finally imploding to leave only an unnerving drone.
Silence I, the album’s second piece, is similarly lengthy but eschews a build-up to savage the listener from the off. Based around a frantic riff, the screams seem to break against the gleaming wall of percussion, the instrumentation coalescing into a solid wall of noise that induces a sense of near-claustrophobia as the track progresses. Remorseless, yet otherworldly, the guitars slowly form texture and shape as hidden melodies swirl forth from the mix, but it is only some eleven minutes in that Blurr Thrower allow the true majesty of the piece to shine through in a deftly executed passage that reveals the track’s hidden depths before, once more, obscuring them under a frozen avalanche of coruscating riffs.
LADLO rarely if ever disappoint, the label’s ability to find bands that focus on art over accessibility second-to-none in the black metal world. With only two tracks, it is clear that this is an album designed to be played through in its entirety and there are no quick fixes here – only dark introspection and evocative, musical dreamscapes. Both beautiful and brutal, les avatars du vide is a truly mesmerising piece of work and one that rewards replays thanks to a dense composition that only reveals its secrets with time. 9
