Grylle is a French one-man Epic Folk/Medieval Black Metal band formed in 2013 and released his debut album “Les grandes compagnies” in 2019. On November 10th, 2024, Grylle released his second full-length album, “Égrotants, souffreteux, cacochymes, covidards”. The album was released through Antiq Records.
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Grylle, Egrotants, souffreteux, cacochymes, covidards Review: This review will evaluate every aspect of the album, from its intricate musical composition to its production. Our analysis will provide valuable insights to help you determine if this album is worth adding to your collection.
The First Three Sins of Egrotants, souffreteux, cacochymes, covidards
Let’s start by discussing the first three sins of Grylle and his album, Egrotants, souffreteux, cacochymes, covidards
The First Sin, The Strings/Keys: Involves in stripping all electric guitars, and replace with medieval instruments like the hurdy-gurdy, bagpipes, and mandocello. The Second Sin, The Vocals: Involves harsh rasps, chants, clean singing enhanced by rare-but-angelic choirs. The Third Sin—The Percussions: The soundscape is crafted using medieval percussion and drum instruments to enhance their music’s historical and atmospheric feel.
The Fourth Sin: Overall Discussion:
Expect nothing less than black metal as it would have been made in the Middle Ages after the Great Plague fear
The moment the listener hits the play button, they are greeted by the enchanting strains of Grande Marche de Coidards, which serves as a warm invitation into an audio experience filled with spoken word introductions. This captivating piece swiftly immerses the listener in a rich medieval ambiance, perfectly establishing the mood for the adventure that lies ahead.
As the journey unfolds with the second track, Maivais Sang, and the subsequent five pieces, the listener is swept away by lyrical explorations of medieval themes and historical narratives.
As one immerses themselves deeper into the soundscape of Grylle, a captivating experience unfolds, revealing a blend that is both distinctive and thrilling. This project offers a genuine taste of medieval music infused with the raw energy of black metal. The listener is invited to explore a realm where traditional melodies intertwine with the fierce intensity of black metal, creating a refreshing auditory journey.
What sets Grylle apart from your typical black metal, is stripping away any modern instrumentation, which reminds me of acoustic black metal, where the stripping of the modern instrumentation to focus solely on the primal essence of the genre. The music resonates with an earthy authenticity, featuring powerful black metal vocals while seamlessly integrating medieval themes and instruments that evoke a sense of medieval times. This raw and unplugged style allows the listener to connect with the music on a deeper level, as it transports them to a world steeped in history and emotion, enriching the overall experience. Each note and lyric conjures images of a bygone era, where the echoes of the past meet the intensity of black metal. This innovative fusion captivates the ears and stirs the imagination.
The listener will be immersed in a unique auditory experience, as previously noted, where present-day instruments like electric guitars, synthesizers, and drums are entirely absent. Instead, the soundscape is crafted of a power-trio: fast and bizarre lute melodies by Hyver (Véhémence, Hanternoz), swinging and inventive bass with a ’70s prog approach by KK (Passéisme, Paroxysm Unit), and flamboyant and luxurious drums led by Cadavre (Cantique Lépreux, Mêlée des Aurores, Forteresse live). Above it, some strange and uncommon instruments are psalterions, flutes and pipes, Sarrazin guitar (or citole), and brass sections. And then, harsh vocals provided by Grylle‘s Hyver and La Griesche enhanced the music with rare-but-angelic choirs. But not forget those, raw intensity black metal shrieks and the poignant spoken words in French weave together to form a gritty, dark atmosphere that evokes the essence of late medieval France. This carefully curated arrangement invites listeners to step into a world steeped in history, where the absence of modernity enhances the authenticity of the experience.
The combination of ancient instruments, black metal, the stench of medieval plague atmosphere, and the evocative vocal expressions creates a powerful atmosphere. The music transports the listener to a time of both beauty and haunting, resonating with the echoes of a bygone era.
Ultimately, Grylle offers listeners a fruit of art experience that feels otherworldly, but also haunting and captivating, all crafted through the skilful devilmanship of its creators.
The album concludes with the final track, Le triomphe de la mort. We want to give a shoutout to Antiq Records for letting us review Grylle and his album Egrotants, sSouffreteux, cacochymes, covidards. Now, we are going to conclude the review by talking about the final three sins and concluding the review.
The Last Three Sins
Let’s discuss the last three sins of Grylle and his album, Egrotants, souffreteux, cacochymes, covidards
The Fifth Sin, The Memorabilia:
For us: Grylle does not capture the feel of this medieval dark French atmosphere, but plunges the listener into this dark French-medieval atmosphere, that makes one drag out their medieval mead, bob your head and sing-a-long to the melodies. At the same, Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards captures the core of this unique setting, certain tracks evoke an electrifying sensation, as if the guitar were present, even when it is absent. The resulting sound is nothing short of enchanting.
“Expect nothing less than black metal as it would have been made in the Middle Ages after the Great Plague fear: brutal, inventive, and without compromise”
The Sixth Sin, The Artwork:
The artwork (created by the medievalist painter Miho Kuroyanagi) for Egrotants, souffreteux, cacochymes, covidards is a striking representation of the band’s medieval and folk themes. The cover art features intricate and detailed medieval paintings, which complement perfectly the album’s musical style. The artwork is designed to evoke a sense of historical depth and fantasy, drawing the listener into the world that Grylle has created through their music.
The Seventh Sin, Disrelish:
Nothing to disrelish within the musical spectrum of Grylle and his album, Egrotants, souffreteux, cacochymes, covidards. Therefore, this concludes Grylle and his album, Egrotants, souffreteux, cacochymes, covidards review.
Members
Hyvermor: everything
Track-Listing
01. Grande marche des covidards
02. Mauvais sang
03. Moribond flétri d’orgueil
04. Réservement de confortale présence
05. Le Tropique du Cancer
06. Queresle des Diables sur la savance du mort
07. Le triomphe de la mort
