SALON DES REFUSES

If you don't like black metal stay clear. In Lingua Mortua certainly are that, to a point that is, but there's a lot more to these Norwegian's than that. I only came across them quite recently when I read a review and heard a track on a recent Classic Rock Prog Cd and was curious enough to want to hear more. I took a chance and bought this, Salon Des Refuses, the second album from the band.

I certainly can't deny that In Lingua Mortua produce an interesting sound, seemingly influenced by a wide diversity of sources. Take some black metal, add some prog elements where you fuse moments of beauty with sheer intensity driven by ferocious blast beats. To that add some King Crimson and wild sax playing. Fuse this all together with some complex arrangements and excellent musicianship and you might get an idea of what In Lingua Mortua sound like.

Salon Des Refuses is a very interesting album. The ferocious riffing against the haunting mellotron (reminding me of Opeth) and sax certainly makes a captivating combination. Most of the Eleven tracks never sit still for too long moving through many parts. The myriad of changes is more remarkable when you consider that with the exception of a couple of tracks, the eight minute Like The Ocean and seven minute Cold Void Messiah, the rest average between three and five minutes. Yes they do fit a lot into these short pieces. This certainly keeps things interesting but a downside to this is it's often not very memorable and even after a few plays I find myself getting to the end and not really remembering much of what's gone on.

Overall though this is a fine album and In Lingua Mortua have injected something new into a genre that can often be repetitious. Am I glad I bought it? Well, I'll say yes. It's not an album that'll be regularly pulled off the shelves but I'll certainly be interested to see where this band goes in the future. Fans of the more extreme metal though who enjoy growl style vocals will find it worth a shot. If you're one of these people you need to hear In Lingua Mortua.