“Prenez, buvez-en tous car ceci est le sang !”
Seth‘s first record “Les Blessures de L’Âme” is maybe one of the best black metal albums that came out in 1998 and also one of the best the French extreme metal scene had to offer. There were many bands playing symphonic black metal at the time and this “obscure” album went somehow unnoticed, as I don’t think it was appreciated to its true value. Back then I was a bit obsessed with this record, its great atmosphere haunted me, the songs were pure gold and the French lyrics fit the whole concept like a fucking metal glove.
Over the years Seth continued to release other albums, some good (e.g “The Excellence“), some not that good, but whatever they did, they could not match the greatness of that debut album. Then silence descended over their camp, only to be disturbed in 2018, when Seth announced they will embark on a mini tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of that particular debut album. They also took the opportunity to present their new line up, which included (besides the two original members Heimoth and Alsvid), Drakhian on guitars, Pierre Le Pape on keyboards and Saint Vincent on vocals. Considering the bands the latter was playing with at the time – Blacklodge and Vorkreist – were the exact opposite of Seth‘s music, I was very curious to hear what his vocal input will be like. But after hearing the live album “Les Blessures de L’Âme : XX Ans de Blasphème” (2019), I realized how well Saint Vincent matches with Seth. Not only he played the old songs in an impressive manner, but he also managed to outdone the former vocalist Vicomte Vampyr Arkames, whose charisma and vocal skills I highly appreciated back in the days.
Later on, the band announced that on the 7th of May AB they will release their first album in 8 years, via Season of Mist. Imagine my enthusiasm when I heard this album was somehow considered as the successor of “Les Blessures de L’Âme“, meaning a nice return to the original sound of the band after years of experiments (I found “The Howling Spirit” extremely disappointing). I was literally burning with excitement, also because the first track they published as a single, the title track itself, sounded extremely promising. But we all know sometimes that is not enough. What will the whole album sound like, will this be a successful return or a pathetic attempt ? Those were some questions I was extremely eager to have my answers to.
And after several intense listening sessions, I finally got my answers. Not only the album was excellent, but the band definitely captured that same old school sound and vibe of their early works. Using as leitmotif the fire which consumed Notre Dame de Paris in 2019, (an actual, edited photo of the flaming cathedral adorns the superb album cover made by Leoncio Harmr), the album is a monument of nostalgia, a tribute to the old days of black metal, but created with modern meanings. And by this I mean a very good production and a strong marketing concept so typical for the current years. The album came out in various formats, from the classic CD to several LP versions and 2 different box sets. I do not comment if that is a good thing or not, as in the end I am only interested in the music itself, but those versions will definitely provide a good reason for the Discogs sellers to show their “merchant skills”.
“La Morsure du Christ” puts Seth back on the pedestal of French black metal, where the band once stood. With a duration of 44 minutes and a range of 7 tracks (9, if you have the ltd wooden box set), this album is from start to finish the perfect example of how a (symphonic) black metal record should sound like. The album has it all – aggression, melancholy, incredible blast beats, melodic passages and choruses – appealing both to those who still miss the 90s as well as to the younger generation. For the first time in many years the lyrics are written again in French and the whole concept of fire, religion, black metal and decadence is given the proper sense it deserves.
Each of these 7 songs is unique but the whole album concept is well tied together in this nostalgic shroud the band has so majestically crafted. The eponymous track has been cleverly chosen as an opener and from its very first explosive notes we can have a clear impression of what we can expect from this album. Songs like “Métal Noir“, an excellent homage to this cursed genre, “Sacrifice de Sang” with its ritualistic rhythms and sharp riffs , “Ex-Cathédrale“, romantically portraying the violent demise of Notre Dame and “Hymne au Vampire (Acte III)“, perhaps the most obvious link with the band’s past, are all proof that Seth has been able to reinvent itself by simply playing what it knows best, leaving all experiments aside.
“La Morsure du Christ” is a very strong and coherent record, with absolutely no fillers. I love the dichotomy between aggression and melody, both disputing their parts on the album, only to intertwine into one explosive ball of fire which consumes it all. The musicianship is top class, from Alsvid‘s savage blast beats to the fantastic vocal performance of Saint Vincent, flowing through the grandiose synths of Pierre Le Pape and the excellent guitar work of both Heimoth and Drakhian.
With so many bands the scene has to offer nowadays, I cannot recommend this album enough to those who still want their classic black metal back, or to those who maybe want to see how it was done more than 20 years ago. Invoking the old (coffin) spirit of the 90s can sometimes be a challenging thing, but if done right, it can open the perfect portal avid listeners can step into. And this exactly what Seth has achieved with “La Morsure du Christ“.
“Oh Prince des Enfers, apparaît dans ta Gloire !
Ténébreux Souverain, nimbé de Métal Noir”
Seth – La Morsure du Christ track list:
1. La Morsure du Christ
2. Métal Noir
3. Sacrifice de Sang
4. Ex-Cathédrale
5. Hymne au Vampire (Acte III)
6. Les Océans du Vide
7. Le Triomphe de Lucifer
Seth Line-Up:
Saint Vincent – Vocals
Heimoth – Guitar
Drakhian – Guitar
Esx Vnr – Bass
Pierre Le Pape – Keyboard
Alsvid – Drums
Band links:
Sanctuaire
scrollsofdarmoth.com 
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