RUINES HUMAINES

"Ruines Humaines" is the debut release by French post black metal act Amesoeurs. "Ruines Humaines" is a 3 track EP with a 15:59 minutes long playing time. The EP is available in no less than four different versions. A normal jewel case CD version, a digipack CD version limited to 333 hand-numbered copies, a 10" vinyl version on while vinyl limited to 220 copies and a 10" vinyl version on black vinyl limited to 800 copies. "Ruines Humaines" was released through Northern Silence Productions in October 2006.

While rooted in atmospheric post black metal, the music on the EP also features lots of shoegaze elements. Especially the closing track on the EP titled "Faiblesse Des Sens", which features female vocals by Audrey Sylvain (Peste Noire), reminds me of acts like My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive. The two remaining tracks feature some harsh black metal type vocals by Neige while still maintaining the shoegaze element.

The sound production is a bit lo-fi but otherwise suits the music well and all in all Amesoeurs are off to a pretty good start with "Ruines Humaines". It´s not an EP that blows me away but it´s of a decent quality and a 2.5 - 3 star (55%) rating is warranted.

'Ruines Humaines' - Amesoeurs (6/10)

To anyone already familiar with the work of black metal and shoegaze artist Alcest, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise hearing this that the mastermind behind Alcest also fronts Amesoeurs. To those unfamiliar with Alcest or even the genre at all, this is not a typical sound for black metal. Despite having the inhuman screams, and eerily melodic yet heavy guitars, Amesoeurs seems to be working on a bit of a different wavelength that many other people working within the genre wouldn't think of checking out.

While I myself am a fan of black metal in many of it's forms, this stands out from alot of the other musicians that delve into this extreme sub-genre. All too many black metal bands get caught up in the cultural aesthetic of the scene, and trying to appear more 'evil' than their contemporaries. Amesoeurs brushes these archetypes aside and writes without compromising; unafraid of crossing over to other genres that seem fargone. The first two tracks show what I believe Amesoeur's trademark sound and style to be; black metal with a well-heard influence from the indie and post-rock scene thrown in. While the types of people that indie music attracts aren't the sort you would typically see at a Behemoth or Emperor concert, the musical meld of styles works very well, giving a beautiful vibe to mix in with the abrasive vocals.

The screaming vocals definately get the right vibe across, but they come across as being a bit screechy and immature at times. The third track 'Faiblesse Des Sens' actually does away with alot of the metallic image and even goes as far as being a melodically-driven track with female vocals. This EP certainly leaves me wanting more Amesoeurs, and while there isn't alot of material here, it certainly shows that this band is onto something unique.