Springing from the rib of the odd opera-with-growls project Les Chants Du Hasard, Hasard takes a more conventional approach of classical infused black metal, as weird as that is to say. The titular musician Hasard is responsible for everything here apart from a great appearance from John Steven Morgan (of Wreche fame) on piano. This project’s MO consists of playing some claustrophobic black metal with an urgently shifting lead guitar that is meant to poke at the nerves in the vein of Akhlys (beware looking these guys up as they are lead by a known Neo-Nazi), Musmahhu or Lorn (the black metal band that made Arrayed Claws, not the electronica artist). This is a style that easily tires me out after a whole album but Malivore does sport some variety by its nature of using elements of classical music and the opera that this artist is used to. Most of the time, there is something that sets each track apart from the other and this is something that saves the album from falling into the trap of becoming tremolo-and-snare-abuse elevator black metal.
Already from the start, “Hypnocentrisme” starts experimenting with offsetting the typical black metal with a synthline in the background that pretends to offer relief while the guitar screams its unease above it. Samples of bell chimes and crackling fire shifts the mood as the song goes up and down in tempo and finishes off with classical music that could have fit on a Sigh album. “Vicivers” and the title track follows by injecting some bass variance to the sound, even letting the bass lead for a few moments while the buzzing guitar and drums fall to the background and “Interespace” ends things well on a track that constantly tries to up the tension and intensity to great effect. One of the main highlights for me comes in “Choral Inane”, however, as I was a fan of Wreche‘s flawed but captivating debut. Here, Morgan‘s piano enters the fray and goes from using dark stabbing chords and scale runs to make the black metal more chaotic to providing a moment of respite in a breakdown near the end. There are a lot of ideas packed in these 44 minutes and while I enjoy most of it, I would still have liked to see more variety in the black metal itself. Would that work when there is so much going on in the background? That is hard to say. But I am stuck with the feeling that what is holding Hasard back from being great rather than good is that little extra where the metal itself goes beyond mere tempo changes and works with the other influences. Still, Malivore is a claustrophobic work that is sure to please fans of this kind of thing and it seems that I, Voidhanger really is on a roll this year.
