2010
08.30
08.30
Format: CD
Release Date: 30.08.2010
Country: France
Genre: Black Doom / Dark Metal
The debut album from a French band. Epic work filled with philosophic thoughts is based on a mixture of styles: doom death interlaced with dark metal features black metal elements. Clean album sound emphasizes all music features: from melancholic passages to furious fast guitar riffs. Essential record for open-minded listeners with refined taste.
Tracklist:
1. Mortshaped
2. The Lunar Tragedy Act 1: The Parcae’s Night is Sleepless
3. The Lunar Tragedy Act 2: Mouroir, Mouroir, Suis-je le Plus Mort?
4. The Lunar Tragedy Act 3: Experience of Downfall
5. Where All Faith is Lost
Review
Voices from the Darkside
The once so crowded family residence of Holy Records is today a deserted place and nearly all family members –ELEND, NIGHTFALL, ORPHANDED LAND and several other remarkable acts – have left towards other shores. But what remains of the once so influential French label is their special musical focus & dedication – the young generation would talk about a key matrix – which connected without exception all family members. And the French Doom/ Black Metal newcomer CEBREN-KHAL could be – nearly 15 years later – easily introduced as a late offspring of these former times. It’s a shame to admit that the band searched over 3 years to find a “suitable” label to release “A Mass of Despair” and it’s another shame that the band didn’t use the given time to extend the playtime to at least a quarter of an hour. But what matters is (as usual) the presented music which is like a wild ride with their French brothers ELEND and MISANTHROPE. Already founded in 2005 the band recorded their debut “A Mass of Despair” in spring 2007 and the five tracks are the perfect example for a vital mélange of Doom and Black Metal. Especially the final track “Where all Faith is lost” is like a modern version of ELEND’s cult track “Birds of Prey” – a song full of different moods and musical layers. The presented music is currently everything else but ‘in’ or ‘hot’ but since when do we care what the masses dictate! A very interesting release for all fans of the above mentioned subgenre.
Review
Heavy Impact
7/10
17.01.2011
Anche se non si ha una personalità spiccata, si può produrre un buon album, potrebbe suonare in tal modo l’estrema sintesi di “A Mass of Despair” , debut album dei francesi Cebren-Khal, quintetto che lungo i trentasette minuti di durata di questo lavoro mette in mostra uno sviscerato amore per le prime relases dei vari Paradise Lost, Anthema, My Dying Bride, e per il mood tetro e malinconico che caratterizzava le stesse. A tale componente, che resta la referenza sonora primaria, i Cebren-Khal associano un sostrato Black Metal che rende la proposta tutta maggiormente sinistra.
I cinque brani che compongono il disco, risultano di buona fattura e si tengono alla larga dal regalare sensazioni tediose, punti cardine degli stessi brani sono: passaggi lenti e drammatici (in questo l’apporto delle tastiere si rivela fondamentale), vocals molto ispirate sia nei fraseggi Doom/Gothic oriented sia in quelli dal piglio maggiormente Black ed un mood di fondo profondamente teatrale. All’interno dei brani, trovano spazio veri e propri momenti dedicati alla disperazione ed alla sua forma più comune legata al pianto; ottima l’alternanza del cantato che alterna la lingua inglese e quella francese, così di pregevolissima fattura il lavoro operato alle chitarre. E se il trittico centrale “The Lunar Tragedy” (act 1, 2, 3) nei suoi complessivi diciotto minuti non disdegna violente puntante nel Symphonic Black, la finale “Where All Faith is Lost” è un brano che non ha nulla da invidiare alle produzioni, del genere in esame, dei primi anni 90.
Lungi dall’essere un capolavoro, “A Mass of Despair” è un lavoro più che riuscito, capace di tenere legato l’ascoltatore a sé e di donargli numerose sensazioni ombrose. Certo spesso si ha la sensazione di assistere ad un esercizio di influenze, ma la fattura d’alto rango dei brani svilisce tale critica e rende il giusto merito ad una band che non potrà che crescere, vista anche la facilità di accostamento con la triade inglese sopra citata.
Author: Andrea Angelino
Review
Forgotten Path
8.5/10
I didn’t know anything about Cebren-Khal, despite the fact that this is a Death/Doom/Black Metal band from France. This band was new, unheard, with no emotion in the beginning, but later everything changed… This is Cebren-Khal’s debut full-length, but it sounds really impressive and like an old and proficient seadog, they show how to play great Metal music. The vocals are really calm, but grasping for cardiac and the instrumental side is not really original, although sometimes it can surprise. But I should talk about everything from the beginning.
At first it is not the music that we can entitle as depressive or slow Black Metal. The nucleus is Death/Doom. The word “black” means that we will hear just some insertion of it. Moreover this music is not as slow as Doom Metal should be. Sometimes it becomes a huge and threatening storm with Death Metal riffs, hateful singing and massive drums. The clear insertions are symphonic or acoustic, and that is not Black Metal either. So can we call it Black Metal since there are only Black Metal features in the music? I think it is something that we hear in the background. The music is much more versatile and unnamable than normal Doom/Death, and that is why it can be understandable as Black/Doom, Progressive Doom and other abstract words.
The music’s originality is on high level. I just don’t know with which band I can compare it. The first song reminds me of October Tide and Void of Silence. Later it got into something like My Dying Bride’s oldest creations. But this band is just a little bit of all music’s variety. Furthermore I just don’t know how to talk about clear, acoustic and symphonic insertions; it is like a foreign body in the cell, but mixed enough to look like a one-piece creature. Otherwise, their originality is great and nobody should mistake this with other Doom bands.
As I’ve said in the beginning I just love the vocals. It sounds like Aaron Stainthorpe from My Dying Bride singing on “The Dreadful Hours”. That is my favorite song from that album, that’s why I really like this. The other really fascinating thing is the mood. The music is just flying in the sky, falling down and flying again. Everything can change in any minute or second, that’s why listening to it is really non-boring and unpredictable. Moreover, the technical side is wonderful, too. Every riff is in its place and you can hear melodic line and then its change.
The bad side is in the poor creation. I just can’t exclude anything that I could not find anywhere else. For me the music sometimes is too chaotic and full of sounds. In the end everything got perfect, but in the middle of the work the songs were full of Death Metal riffs and melodies, which became uninteresting. Moreover, I do not like Industrial riffs which are just not intended for Doom Metal. But that is just one drop in the rain and whole work is really good.
So, to sum up, here we have strong Doom Metal, which can easily remind one of classical Doom/Death Metal, but in the end it sounds like un-normal Doom. The music balances between aggressive and peaceful, and is unpredictable. The vocals are really okay, and the instrumental side is professional and great. It is just another interesting and promising band from France.
Author: Bloodie
Review
Blastbeat
8/10
29.10.2010
Cebren-Khal is een doom metal groep uit Rennes, Normandie (Frankrijk). Deze groep maakt een prima combinatie van doom/death metal met weemoedige teksten. Tijd om deze band eens even te checken.
Cebren-Khal begint met een sferisch intro. Zang gecombineerd met een flinterdun onderlaagje van gitaar en basgitaar. Heel lichtjes vult deze samenhang de lucht. De cleane zang heeft wel iets weg van van My Dying Bride. De teksten zijn in het Frans en dat doet de atmosfeer goed. De doomgrunts zijn niet erg sterk en zijn erg dun in de mix gezet. Jammer, deze hadden gerust iets harder gemogen en dat had de muziek ook een boost gegeven.
De drums zitten goed en technisch in elkaar. Zowel bas- als gitaarpartijen lopen mooi in elkaar over. Ditzelfde geldt voor de zang. Alles is in perfectie harmonie en dit plaatje klopt gewoon. Het 2e nummer is zowaar een enorme uitbarsting op deze plaat. De death metal knalt je om de oren en is eigenlijk wel een verlichting tussen al het ontzettend zware doom spul: Blastbeats en snelle gitaarpartijen.
De teksten zijn gevuld met wanhoop. Prachtige combinatie met de troosteloze doom die dit gezelschap maakt. Cebren-Khal is zeker een band waar ik mijn collectie mee aan zou vullen.
Autor: Gruis
Review
Femfogacs
8.2/10
10.12.2010
“Minden előbbre és kifelé tart, semmi sem hull ki
És meghalni más, mint bárki hinné, és örvendetesebb.”
/Walt Whitman/
A francia Cebren-Khal debütjéről olvashattok, melyet a kedvenc orosz kiadónk dobott piacra idén, a megszokott korrekt minőségben, tehát gyönyörű nyomdai meló (Gustave Dore illusztrációival) és remek hangzás társaságában hívnak minket egy végtelen utazásra, borongós melankóliába vetítve a jelen meghasadt pilléreit. Mellesleg nem sokat fogok vacakolni a csapat biográfiai adataival, hiszen hihetetlenül kevés információt szórtak szét magukról, tehát górcső alá inkább magát a lemezt vegyük. A műfaj a dark metal és doom death között mozog némi black metal fenn hanggal.
Hatások terén mindenképpen megemlíthető a My Dying Bride, de a korai Celestial Season és TOT (Theatre Of Tragedy) – utóbbi női vokál nélkül, ahogy a Mindrot halmazai is itt-ott felelevenednek. Az összkép érdekessége talán, hogy anyanyelvükön is megszólalnak, aminek annyira orosz hatása van, hogy elgondolkodom a régmúlt porosz-francia kapcsolatokon. A dalok lassan vánszorognak szép szólókkal és szaggató riffek között, melyekre sejtelmes hangok, suttogások és hörgő károgások feszülnek rá. Akadnak jelenetek a felvonásban melyek felgyorsulnak, itt a dallamos black-death merítkezések fogják közre az amúgy vegetáló muzsikát. Sajnos a sok remek ötlet nagy része lerágott és lényegében a végeredmény is már ezerszer újranyálazott csontokat fehérít még jobban ki. Friss hús, vér és téphető belek sehol sem tűnnek fel, pedig érezhetően ragaszkodtak az egyediség kérdéséhez, amely némely progresszív fejlődésnél szépen tálalt felnyitott hasfalat mutat. Kivételt talán egyedül az Act 1. The Parcae’s Night Is Sleepless jelen, amely old school ténfergésével masszív black-death zúzdát szabadit az óvatlan hallgatóra. A második felvonás inkább dark-gothic, míg a harmadik egyértelműen gothicba oltott black témákkal támad, itt is akadnak ügyes témák, ám túl gyakori a mély hörgéssel kísért doomos leállás. Tudás és kísérletezés terén egyaránt a záró Where All Faith Is Lost tartogat legtöbb meglepetést, minden a helyére passzítva s változatos és méltó befejezéssel levezetve a nagy utat. Amúgy pedig esővel kezdődik és azzal is ér véget A Mass Of Despair fuldoklása. A beteg halott, az orvos tanácstalan, a rokonság zokog…
…a változatos és jól megkomponált dark-doom, gothic-death-black szerelmesei pedig boldogok, őket ne tántorítsa el a pontszám, nekem nem jött át teljesen a koncepció, de ettől függetlenül van egy olyan érzésem, hogy fogunk még hallani a francia brigádról a jövőben!
Author: HARDsick
Review
Froster
9/10
04.01.2011
Дебютный альбом французской формации Cebren-Khal вызывает восхищение! Очень качественная, идеально записанная, весьма мелодичная, при этом драйвовая и атмосферная работа. Релиз более думовый, нежели блековый, и дум французов звучит крайней утончённо и изысканно. Когда же подключается блек металлическая составляющая – то начинается методичная, отлично структурированная и техничная сеча. Стоит заметить, что несмотря на всё разнообразие музыки – хаотичной её не назовёшь. Всё достаточно чётко и внятно распределено, подаётся гармонично и сыграно. Не поскупились музыканты и на буклет, с мистическими картинными рисунками, а также величественной и стильной обложкой. Альбом строго рекомендован к прослушиванию всем поклонникам тёмного исскуства.
Author: Rover
Review
Pest Webzine
10/10
Cebren-Khal is a new name to me, although the band has been active since 2004. The problem is they have only released one demo, in 2005, and this debut album, last year.
This album is divided into three parts, although it contains 5 tracks; part two has 3 tracks included. What surprises me on this release is its diversity; unlike most of the bands on Bad Mood Man, Cebren-Khal, although Doom Metal based, ads an impressive variety of influences from the Black and mostly Death Metal fields and the final result is very catchy, varied and mature. I’m glad I had the chance to listen to this album, and to meet a band that’s inclined to experimenting within the fields of Doom Metal, but who can also manage to keep the same heavy atmosphere, so experimenting in their case could not be considered compromise, but development. It all sounds so ’90′s, but still has a modern touch. Not a slight touch of monotony here, only pure emotions skillfully presented. Maybe I’m subjective because I like it so much, but I really recommend you checking this band out.
Author: Adrian
Review
Inwë[B]zine
17.02.2011
La scène doom française bouge beaucoup et l’on voit ci et là naîtrent des groupes plus intéressants les uns que les autres. Cependant, certains groupes se démarquent, se font énigmatiques, ne donnent que très peu de signes de vie et pourtant, nous offrent de véritables chefs d’œuvre à chaque parution. CEBREN KHAL fait partie de ces groupes là. Formé en 2004, dans la région de Rennes, le groupe est inclassable, maîtrisant aussi bien le doom métal, le death que le black métal.
A Mass of Despair est à l’image du goupe : atypique. S’organisant autour d’un triptyque : The Lunar Tragedy, cet album est une véritable démonstration de tout le talent de CEBREN KHAL. Cependant, j’ai du mal à comprendre comment un album, enregistré en 2007, n’arrive entre mes mains qu’aujourd’hui, surtout que cet album est de très grande qualité !!
Mais revenons à l’album.
Même s’il peut être considéré comme une introduction à The Lunar Tragedy, Mortshapped est avant tout un véritable morceau. Très ambiant, laissant la part belle aux guitares, aux murmures et à la pluie, on sent ici l’influence du doom. La voix claire est parfaitement maîtrisée, les mélodies accrocheuses et, chose importante, les paroles sont en français. Un bon morceau, un bon échauffement pour la suite. On sent très vite, notamment vers la fin du morceau, que le groupe cherche à nous amener ailleurs. Les ambiances black métal se multiplient, les mélodies se font plus oppressantes et la rythmique plus rapide.
Dès l’entrée du triptyque The Lunar Tragedy, le groupe ne va pas par quatre chemins, nous offrant un black/death me donnant le vertige. Bien trop rapide pour le doomeux que je suis, les changements de tempo me font perdre pied. Chaque passage possède sa propre couleur, sa propre identité et le tout est réellement déroutant. J’arrive à reprendre mon souffle pendant les quelques passages atmosphériques ou encore sur l’Act. 2, plus proche de mes habitudes musicales.
Je retrouve dans cet Act. 2 tout ce que j’aime : des guitares lancinantes, un tempo un peu plus lent, une ambiance plus pesante ; comme une pause dans ce triptyque. Je souhaiterais insister sur les performances vocales dans ce morceau car Yves est absolument habité par son personnage. La maîtrise est impressionnante, passant de la voix narrée à une voix à la limite de la folie, de la voix gutturale à la voix claire. Le travail effectué est tout simplement grandiose. Le morceau est à lui seul un véritable monument !!
L’Act. 3 est, tout comme l’Act. 1, plus rapide et plus direct. Le groupe impressionne par son professionnalisme, pas de place pour l’improvisation, tout est absolument bien pensé. On a ici affaire à une véritable démonstration du talent de CEBREN KHAL, tout comme dans Where All Faith is Lost. Passant des passages atmosphériques à des atmosphères proches du black/death, c’est un florilège d’émotions. Mais attention, la musique de ce groupe hors du commun n’est pas du tout un mélange approximatif de plusieurs styles. Chaque changement est très bien amené, la transition bien pensée. La pluie et les murmures nous reviennent, faisant écho à Mortshaped, comme si rien ne s’était passé. Encore une fois, la prestation vocale est indéfinissable.
Les derniers accords résonnent et je me dis que CEBREN KHAL est un groupe incontournable de la scène française, tout style confondu. Ce parfait mélange, entre death, black et doom métal font de ce groupe, et de cet album, une révélation pour moi. A ne manquer sous aucun prétexte !!!
Author: dark.pimousse
Review
Antichrist zine 11/2011
9/10
CEBREN-KHAL, pretty hard to remember titleJ. Six years old band from France finally released its first full-length after unknown for me demo “Charon’s Path”. And again I just respect label for finding such great bands! I listen to this CD some times and I want play it again and again. Actually this is doom metal, based on black and death metal rhythmical structure, atmospheric and just deep and catching. Made with great passion towards darkness and gloomy moods this album can be one of most respected in the genre stuff. Five tracks of doom metal, which will do your mind freeze and abandoned of any thoughts. Measured riffs changing with such slow ones, which then changing with marching thresholds as well. Also as you understood, we can add additional word to their style – dark, because the whole album have dark atmosphere. Music is sounds also furious sometimes, so we have both melancholic and fury stuff, what make them yet more listenable. Interesting rhythm-section together with low drumming and obscure vocals sound massive and even majestic from time to time. All the things are good here, from booklet artwork up to music, all are in unity and looks as one whole thing luckily. I’m sure this will be greatest gist for fans of TIAMAT, PARADISE LOST and MY DYING BRIDE! Check now!
Review
Hymnes Funeraires
7/10
26.09.2010
Before describing the album in several short words, I’d say it would be accurate to mention several words about the band as well, even if they have a past of quite a few years.
Cebren-Khal were born in Rennes, France, at the beginning of 2004.
During summer 2005, Cebren-Khal recorded their first demo, entitled “Charon’s Path” Including 4 tracks, this demo was released at the beginning of November 2005. The “Charon’s Path” demo got a warm and even enthusiastic reception by underground press. Some gigs, including in May 2006 French final of the “Metal Battle – Wacken Open Air”, proved also good audience reactions.
During February 2007, Cebren-Khal begin with the recording of their new album, entitled A Mass of Despair.In 2010, “A Mass of Despair” is finally released under the russian doom metal label Solitude Productions.
Cebren-Khal belongs to the sphere of doom/death metal bands, but with a very strong influence of melodic black metal. Through the album entitled “A mass of Despair”, there is a track with 3 parts in which we notice this transition from death/doom to influences of melodic black metal in the most accurate manner; I’m refering to the three parts that belong to the song named “the Lunar Tragedy”. When you listen to these parts, you have the sensation that you’re passing through an initiation in these genres, a switch between a track with a stronger doomish accent.. And then another, with a more defined mold towards melodic black metal.. Or even both of them, combined. Of course, we also encounter transitions from melancholic passages to furiously fast black metal guitar ridds, which could confuse you at a certain point if you’re not familiar with these transitions. The lyrical work is filled with philosophic knowledge and ideals and the vocals range from gloomy, spoken words to guttural expulsions. The vocals mingle very well with the emotional impact of the song ( for example in: “Where All Hope Is Lost”, „The Lunar Tragedy – Act 2. Mouroir, Mouroir, Suis-Je Le Plus Mort” ). These two songs are also the ones that caught my ear the most, maybe because they keep a straighter line of doom/death metal.
Eventually, I can say that “A mass of Despair” was a bit too avant-garde for my tastes. The passage from harsher tracks to more doomish ones, to fast tracks with aggressive black metal riffs was too fast, too sudden. It was a bit hard for me to let myself sink into the atmosphere created by the slower tracks when I could be prodded towards reality right afterwards, anytime. However, these things don’t steal any merit of the album, which is very well composed.
Author: Zamo
Review
Metal Revolution
7.6/10
28.06.2011
Cebren Khal is yet another band that should be known to all fans of doom and melodic metal. Infact I was very currious to hear what the band was up to now,and I can tell you Cebren Khal took me with a storm.
Cebren Khal kicks-off their new release A Mass Of Despair with thunder, rain and church bells ranging in the background. The album consists of five dark and melodic tracks, and the band starts out with “Mortshaped” which has tunes of soli and awesome guitar riffs, bombastic drums combined with evil and dark growls.
The second track “The Parcae´s Night is Sleepless” takes another and different sound, because the style is more heavy, loud and the instruments are harder, but the vocals still remain deep and dark with evil growls.
“Where All Faith is Lost” is yet a track with a tuned guitars and a much thicker sound than the rest. The cover artwork really represent the dark, melodic and depressive world, with fallen angels into the darkness.
However, there are lots of pretty tightly orchestrated songs, demonstrative of a professionalism most bands aren’t able to achieve on their debut. In other words; I was very surprised with A Mass Of Despair.
If you want to let Cebren Khal lead you into a dark journey, then I will recommend you to take a look at A Mass Of Despair; as this album has all of the potential to become a classic.
Author: Simona
Review
Evilized
Nur noch selten stößt man auf Alben die als Einheit begeistern, zusammenhängend arrangiert sind oder einem schlüssigen Konzept folgen. Sucht man dann noch nach einem gewissen Grade an Innovation, dürfte die Auswahl noch magerer ausfallen.
Wunderbare Melodiebögen
CEBREN-KHAL verbinden auf ihrem Debüt „A MASS OF DESPAIR“ eine Vielzahl der oben genannten Kriterien. Auf dem knapp 38-minütigen Werk vereinen die Franzosen die atmosphärisch getragene Stimmung des Doom mit der Raserei und Kraft melodischen Schwarzmetalls. Wunderbare Melodiebögen formen im Einklang mit zumeist guttural gehaltener Gesangsarbeit eine ergreifende Klanglandschaft voll erhabener Schönheit. Kraftvoll und differenziert gewandet erstrahlen die zumeist überlangen Kompositionen im richtigen Licht und legen die Detailverliebtheit des Fünfers offen dar.
„A MASS OF DESPAIR“ lädt zum träumen ein und katapultiert CEBREN-KHAL, trotz des sperrigen Bandnamens, bereits mit dem Erstlingswerk an die Spitze des Genres.
Author: Wolfsblut
Review
Maelstorm
5/10
Cebren-Khal’s A Mass of Despair would be a mediocre album that is enamored with the form of despondent, gothy doom metal, but with none of the inspiration that is requisite of any successful album. However, some pockets of goodness spice things up, like changes into more deathy sections, where the drums and guitars speed up and get more aggressive. The few bits of Swedish black metal-inspired harmonized melody also have a respectable amount of energy, although it’s nothing original.
What brings Cebren-Khal crashing right back down are the sections of faux-pained vocals where it sounds like the guy was trying to sound as upset and frantic and lamentative as he could, but while not straying from the cliched goth mode of doing so. It’s all so laughably bad, forced, and insincere that you can easily imagine the guy hyperventilating between takes and poking himself in the eye to induce tears and / or going through bottles of eye drops to get himself in the zone.
Thankfully, these dire, dire sections are pretty limited, but they’re bad enough that they color the entire album, whose proper form, flashes of energy, but lack of inspiration make it as run-of-the-mill and done-before as the recycled-a-million-times artwork.
Author: Roberto Martinelli
Review
The Streets
5/10
05.12.2010
Nykommerne i franske Cebren-Khal leverer en helt grei debut uten de helt store toppene eller dype dalene. De fem sporene utgjør tre låter, hvor hovedtyngden av albumet er sentrert rundt den tredelte «The Lunar Tragedy». Sjangermessig plukker de litt her og litt der og ender opp med et produkt som finner fotfeste i Death/Doom-genren, men de har hele tiden vendt blikket utover for å se om de finner bedre grep andre plasser, om du er med på den analogien. Plateselskapet benytter seg at taggen «Dark Metal» og den er både intetsigende og deskriptiv på en og samme tid. Paletten er variert og kvintetten benytter seg av både ren vokal, synth og rene gitarlyder i tillegg til det man forventer å høre. Låtmaterialet er i seg selv temmelig anonymt og sjøl om de ikke trår feil på vei opp fjellveggen velger de ikke akkurat den mest krevende eller spennende ruta, ei heller det største fjellet. Hold allikevel muligheten åpen for at dette er et band som faller i adskillig bedre smak hos musikklyttere som ikke anmelder alt for mye musikk på fritiden.
PS. Om de fortsetter i samme gate som avslutningslåta holder seg i kan de fort bli en forcé å regne med!
Author: Rune