CERTITUDES

Present return with the first full-fledged band effort for over a decade on Certitudes, though to be honest I find it rather unconvincing. I'm inclined to agree with toroddfuglesteg that in moving somewhat away from the dark, horrific soundscapes of their first releases Present lose that distinctive atmosphere which made them so compelling, and they don't really find a cohesive and compelling tone to replace it with. The consequence is an album which, to my ears, seems to lack an emotional core - the musicians seem to be playing for the sake of playing but the compositions don't seem to evoke any particular mood or theme.

In addition to this, some of the tweaks to the present sound they present just don't seem to work. Whilst the quasi-operatic singing on Le Poison Qui Rend Fou was compelling, the zany singing of the Trigaux family and Daniel Denis this time around just doesn't work for me. On the whole, Certitudes kept the Present name alive but doesn't really add anything to the legend.