Reviews

CD Review: Antaeus - Blood Libels

Posted by Cosmo Lee on January 22nd, 2007

antaeus bloodlibelsBlood Libels is the third album from French black metallers Antaeus, and it's a hell of a release. Those who enjoyed Cut Your Flesh and Worship Satan and De Principii Evangelikum will be pleased at the progress here. The breakneck tempos and frosty vibe are still present, but the production is much beefier now. Purists need not fret; this is no Andy Sneap production. The guitars are still jagged and filthy like rusty sawblades. The sound leaps out of the speakers, though, instead of wallowing in murk.

Drums, in particular, benefit from the production. Ride cymbals slice through "Control and Abuse" like shards of exploding glass. Dark ambient interludes add atmosphere; the menacing intro sends distorted shivers left and right before inevitably yielding to blastbeats. Sinister melodies occasionally add variety to otherwise relentless songs. The tremolo-picked theme to "Colliding in Ashes" would be mournful in other contexts. However, writ large and wrapped in scathing rasps, it becomes apocalyptic.

As is typical with Norma Evangelium Diaboli releases, the packaging is phenomenal. The CD comes in a digipak with beautifully blasphemous artwork and lyrics on both normal and "onionskin" paper. The vinyl version comes with its own special artwork. This release is definitely a total package, and downloading it would lose much of its magic.

7.5/10

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Comments (3)

  1. January 23rd, 2007 at 11:38 am Huruem says:

    Oh my fucking god, I would never have thought that I would ever read such a review on your website guys. I mean, Antaeus has been a very cult but so underground band, even here in France !
    They benefited a lot of a sort a myth around the old and lasting black metal french bands such as Arkhon Infaustus, Temple of Baal, Blut Aus nord (THAT is a band that you should definetly check out, probably the most interresting French BM band) and some others… I guess MkM's work on the promotion of the band on the international scene throught Warlust worked pretty well.

    Antaeus remains one of the biggest sensation I had ever in a concert. Even the crowd was singing Blood War III which is so wierd, I mean, have you ever seen a crowd singin a song of a black metal band? I hadn't before.

    Even if I used to listen to the older albums sometimes, I was so bored by their mix, that I really enjoyed listening to blood libels. I mean, Blood libels has a very good mix and a breathtaking atmosphere. MkM has done an interresting work here, and has shown that he was one of the better BM singer since Attila, the other musician are quite good as well, even if the guitars are a little bit less punky than on the previous albums. Which adds a kind of depth to the whole which is kind of paradoxical with the grindcore dimension of the band.

    Anyway it is still definetly good. My only problem is that in the same kind of style I tend to prefer Anaal Nathrakh.

  2. January 23rd, 2007 at 12:43 pm CosmoLee says:

    You are one of the lucky ones to have seen Antaeus live! As of December 2006, they are no longer playing live shows. One version of "Cut Your Flesh and Worship Satan" includes bonus live videos, for those interested.

    I am a big fan of Blut Aus Nord. With them, Antaeus, Merrimack, Spektr, Deathspell Omega, and many smaller bands, the French black metal scene seems like it is thriving.

    Recently I saw Satyricon play live, and since some of the songs on their newest album are slower and catchier, the crowd was singing along!

    Thanks for the thoughtful comment. If you have any further recommendations for French black metal, feel free to either email me or tell the bands to contact me at invisibleoranges at gmail dot com. Merci beaucoup!

  3. January 31st, 2007 at 10:18 pm Cozzy says:

    Love Antaeus !!!

    Jusat want to say, new cd is Fukn GREAT!
    But i still prefer De Principii Evangelikum !!

    I need a full live show of this band !!!

    From Australia ( Downunder)
    Cozzy 666

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