Grimoire

Grimorie - À La Lumière des Cendres
Morbid Winter Records, 2011
Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal

1. Bérisiel I
2. Bérisiel II
3. À l'Ombre du Vieux Chêne
4. Les Flammes de l'Ignorance
5. Ostara
6. Les Cieux de l'Insignifiance
7. Untitled








The drummer sitting behind the kit of the very prolific bands Csejthe and Forteresse, comes from behind his drum set and offers up a very beautiful and somber experience. I'm actually surprised to see there aren't ninety bands with the name Grimoire all over the world and maybe that's one of the reasons I gave this album a skip when I saw it at distros back in 2011. It wasn't until I got acquainted with Csejthe and Forteresse that I went back and picked this up. A lot of care really went into this release. The booklet and layout are simply quite beautiful. They did an excellent job of re-creating the aesthetic of an old grimoire.

If you're familiar with Csejthe and Forteresse then Fiel's solo project will be no stranger to you. You can definitely hear atmospheric elements of both bands. Morne, from Csejthe, even puts forth his vocal talents on this release. Fiel is clearly a very competent musician all around and produces some extremely beautiful melancholic moods. While Fiel does an excellent job of creating these landscapes, I do think Csejthe and Forteresse are a little better. I just feel like the subtlety in their songwriting creates a far more grandiose atmosphere. Grimoire's atmosphere, feels a little more... flat, I want to say. It lacks that epic quality that really draws me into the release in the same way as the other projects. Granted, this is a first outing, and it's an admirable composition in that regard. However, I feel like his ties to those larger projects are making me compare against them a lot more. This may not be a good thing and I am trying to stay objective, but I just hearken back to other atmospheric projects and I hear their elements a lot more dynamically. I think Fiel is off to a very strong start and if he ever returns to writing music for another installment of Grimoire the compositions will certainly be much stronger.

Despite some of those complaints, I did enjoy this album. The piano elements are actually stunningly beautiful. He did a great job blending those into the project. As I said, it is a very strong start, so if you do like that beautiful Québec style Black Metal, Grimoire is probably worth your time to check out. I actually do recommend this release, especially if you just can't get enough of this brand of Atmospheric Black Metal.