Rostres - Les Corps Flottants (CD) Digipak

Review
Iye Zine
7.8/10
10.12.2018

Da Pau, cittadina resa famosa soprattutto dall’epopea ciclistica nel corso dei vari Tour De France, arrivano i Rostres, un duo che con il proprio fluido sound strumentale cerca di farci veleggiare lungo le impervie ed affascinanti zone pirenaiche.

Oltre tre quarti d’ora di musica di tale fattura non sono una proposta banale, stante il rischio concreto di perdere per strada qualche ascoltatore lungo i diversi tornanti che si susseguono, sotto forma di brani liquidi, inquieti e mai troppo spinti a livello ritmico.
L’operazione ai bravi Alain e Lionel riesce piuttosto bene , perché Les Corps Flottants è caratterizzato da un approccio molto più simile alla musica ambient e questo fa sì che la musica sia più volta a dipingere spazi, orizzonti e paesaggi, ben sintetizzati dalla foto in bianco e nero posta in copertina.
Anche quando il sound si irrobustisce sfociando in uno sludge post metal, i nostri non perdono di vista il senso melodico ed atmosferico che ne contraddistingue l’incedere, rompendo semmai quel minimo di uniformità compositiva senza rischiare di rendere il tutto frammentario.
E’ anche vero, d’altronde, che tra un episodio evocativo come 118 ed il brano di chiusura Deversoir le differenze sono sostanziali, tanto è placidamente scorrevole la prima e nervosa ed intensa la seconda, che va a sfiorare sonorità vicine a quelle degli ultimi Monolithe, ma ciò che resta è l’impronta univoca conferita al tutto dai Rostres, in virtù di intenti compositivi chiari e ben delineati in grado di compensare le controindicazioni derivanti dalla natura strumentale dell’opera.
Questa è la strada giusta, per chi si cimenta con dischi aventi tale caratteristiche, e bravi i Rostres nell’essere riusciti a trovarla al primo tentativo.

Author: STEFANO CAVANNA

Review
United Rock Nations
4/5

Le label Slow Burn Records nous propose la sortie du premier album du groupe Rostres qui s'intitule ''Les Corps Flottants''.
Le duo est originaire de la ville de Pau. On ne sait pas grand chose, sauf que l'album a été composé en 2017, enregistré dans leur ville mais que le marketing a été fait aux USA par le producteur Nick Zampiello.
Pour ce premier opus, les palois ont composé une musique aux confluences de différents styles.

Pour commencer évacuons le seul souci de cet opus qui musicalement tient carrément la route. Le souci provient de l'absence de chant. Je trouve cela dommage car l'apport du chant aurait amélioré les titres, surtout sur des titres où les structures sont variées et riches, où l'on s'attend à du chant ''growlé" ou clair.

Et c'est vrai que lorsque l'on écoute attentivement la musique du duo venant de Pau, on trouve qu'elle est intéressante.
Les influences vont du Sludge en passant par le Post Rock, le Shoegaze et le Stoner. On citera sans trop se tromper Pelican Neurosis comme exemple d'influences.
Un titre comme ''Les Corps Flottants'' propose tour à tour ces registres.

''Exorde'' commence par des lignes de basses introductives qui laissent présager quelque chose de puissant, puis vient la batterie et des arpèges métalliques. Puis arrivent enfin des riffs sludgy qui me rappellent ceux des compositions d'Amenra. Le titre se poursuit sur des accords dissonants pour revenir sur du lourd où l'ambiance est désespérée.
L'intro de ''118'' se fait sur des rythmes presque militaires à la batterie, puis au fur et à mesure apparaissent des lignes de guitares lancinantes et mêlées à des accords de piano ténébreux. Le morceau se finit dans la même ambiance avec des guitares ''slidées'' si le terme convient.
''Glaire'' démarre sur des riffs pachydermiques et foncièrement noirs, où l'espérance est inexistante. Puis changement d'ambiance pour arriver vers des horizons plus ''post-rock'' et atmosphériques. Dans ce passage, on voit apparaitre un brin d'espoir. '' Glaire'' se termine sur des notes plus rentre-dedans, proches du ''post-hardcore''.

Les palois de Rostres ont réussi de belle manière leur premier album qui mélange Stoner, Sludge et post rock. On pourra juste regretter l'absence de vocaux.

Review
Echoes and Dust
27.06.2018

It seems that the Pyrenees Mountains may have played a large part in influencing the music of French duo Rostre on debut release Les Corps Flottants. Hailing from Pau in Southern France, the town rests at the foot of the vast range which acts as a physical border between France and Spain. The seven tracks display a brooding style of post-rock that traverses smooth still mountainous ponds as well as throwing itself off steep peaks into the heavier side of the genre. At first it can be hard to make the climb but if given time this is a very rewarding listen; this isn’t generic music served to you on a platter, it makes you think to find it’s true beauty.

Rostre doesn’t follow the traditional post-rock build and crescendo patterns instead going for a focus on a dark thunderous atmosphere. If you allow yourself to be taken by the music you get a real sense of the environment of the mountains. Opener ‘Les Corps Flottants’ has a rich texture in the ringing guitar and warm crashing cymbals yet the result is a forbearing gloomy track. The first half of the album also seems to be a climb with moments of release as shown in both ‘Exorde’ and ‘Méandres’. It feels like a beaten up old car which made easy work of the rest of the flat French countryside but is now struggling to carry the weight of the music over the first incline. As the car reaches a plateau it is able to open up once more and release some extra power. The music really carries a feeling of space throughout, from its quieter moments to the thunderous, just as you would expect when in the Pyrenees.

Celebrating life on the plateau is mid-point ‘118’, which has a real feeling of recent pg.lost to it. Although it is glorious in its simplicity and beauty it feels as though the song could have been given more room to grow and so can come across like a bit of filler when considered in the scope of the album. As the weather in the mountains rapidly changes so too does the musical atmosphere. ‘Glaire’ opens with a thunderous riff which feels like the dark clouds rolling over before it breaks down to a brooding movement before kicking off again. In a similar way album closer ‘Déversoir’ hits hard but keeps the harsh guitar progressions up throughout the entirety of the song, certainly a great way to end the album.

It may take a few listens to really reach into the music but that becomes the strength of it. This isn’t a record that will just be played a couple of times and forgotten about. I have no doubt there will be a time in the future when I am traversing a mountainous region with drastically changing landscape and be taken back to the tracks on this debut. Sometimes reaping the rewards of music is simple and instant and that is also true here; but if you allow the time to truly explore the music and allow it to surround you the results are even more stunning.

Author: Gary Davidson

Review
Metal Gods TV
9/10
04.07.2018

Rostres are: French and fucking impossible to find any pictures of, so a photo of their logo is posted below instead.

Alain Brunet – Bass, Guitar, Keyboard, ebow.
Lionel Mermin – Drums and percussion

I have to be absolutely honest here. I had never heard of Rostres before Metal Gods TV’s resident rock icon Iron Mathew brought them to my attention. Rostres are French, you see, and I may have mentioned once or twice in previous reviews that I am currently trying to destroy the Catholic faith in France. I have to admit basing myself in a rural Breton village was not the best policy for this, as the travel time is prohibitive. Still, it means that the nearest church is at the end of my road…

Rostres are a post-rock band according to their blurb. What the fuck even is post-rock? You’re either rock or you’re not and to suggest otherwise is wankery of the highest level. Post-rock is one of those terms invented by bearded hipster twats in genuine 1960s Levi 501s with plaid shirts, espadrilles and “ironic” Morbid Angel t-shirts to describe their turgid pseudo-wank nonsense and overweening sense of self-importance (I give you the Flaming Lips as an example. No matter how much I love Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots part I.) Hoofwanking bunglecunts. This is shoegaze and doom. Nothing else. This is fantastically atmospheric metal without the distraction of terrible vocals. This is two guys exploring soundscapes with considerable aplomb and French style. It is unusual and utterly fascinating. The lack of singing allows you to plunge deeper into the music. And plunge you will. It’s an incredibly heavy record, equal parts Sabbath, Tool, Mudvayne and Coheed And Cambria and this fluidity of influences is no bad thing. There’s melody and beauty before the concrete heaviness crushes you. It’s a beautiful grinder, this record. You’ll be reduced to sausage meat, but you’ll revere the music as you go through the mincer. There’s a kind of sharp edged purity to this music that transcends mere genre. It’s powerful and experimental and utterly unexpected for a French band. The French metal scene is still in its infancy and to hear a French band with such incredible chops and individuality is a real treat. The drummer, Lionel, is a metronomic machine of precision and power – and Alain, as both guitarist and bassist is a revelation. The guitar emotes. There is such feeling in the playing of it. It’s heartbreaking or uplifting or crushing or crying or a destroyer or a distortion fuelled killing machine by turns. You could totally imagine Maynard James Keenan singing over this music, but I would have been very interested to hear Francophone vocals over this music because it is consistently splendid. To think that this experimental brilliance comes from such a conservative country as France astounds me. My favourite tune on this record is Glaire. It has a riff of such cosmic singularity I did a sex wee and utterly ruined my trousers.

Don’t get me wrong, there is melody and subtlety in abundance on this record, which is no bad thing, but there are also magnificent, monolithic riffs of sheer electric alchemy. The seamless way in which the two contrasting styles amalgamate is joyous to experience and I don’t think I have enjoyed an instrumental record quite as much as this one in a very long time indeed. The production is sparkling, a crystalline thing of beauty and purity, every instrument shown off to its absolute best advantage and the drumming is just sublime. I don’t think I have heard such a complete drummer since Neal Peart of Rush. If you are a fan of fast, aggressive metal than Rostres are not for you. If you appreciate metal played with aplomb, melody and an eye for the abstruse, then you are going to love Rostres. I do. I have run out of superlatives. Wonderful.

Felicitations, Lionel et Alain, votre musique est superbe! Je suis un grand fan de ta musique! The Patented Dark Juan Blood Splat Rating System has brought you this review courtesy of the Jenlain and Goudale breweries, the number 13 and the words flocinauchinihilipilification and humuhumunukunukuapua’a and Oscar the Grouch is the best Sesame Street character ever. Apart from maybe Mr. Snuffleupagus. Fuck Big Bird, the attention seeking giant avian twat. Rostres are awarded a magnificently tremendous 9/10.

Author: Iron Mathew