Givre - Le Cloître (2024)

Unleashing a very expansive and diverse set of exploratory sounds, today we have Canada’s Givre and their latest opus “Le Cloître”. Featuring six tracks and over 41 minutes of music, the band explores six songs which each corresponding to a holy woman from Christian history. With a different take in each track, the band explores expertly crafted moments of total chaos that weave back and forth between dissonance and melody.

Opening with “Marthe Robin (1902 - 1981)”, the band starts creating a very atmospheric and dense vibe with shoegazey elements that quickly transition into punishing Post-Metal/Blackgaze passages. The mood slightly shifts into more chaotic territories with the pummeling “Louise du Neant (1639 - 1694)” and its furious onslaughts of piercing riffs and hellish harsh vocals. “Sainte Therese d'Avila (1515 - 1582)” rounds up the first half of this release with fierce dissonant guitars and masterful tempo changes.

Things get even more interesting as “Marie des Vallees (1590 - 1656)” comes on, with a certain Lantlôs “Melting Sun” vibe in its guitar sound. There are also more exploratory atmospheric passages that expertly keep the listener on their toes. This extends to the moody “Sainte Hildegarde de Bingen (1098 - 1179)” and its Post-Metal/Sludgey edge. Closing with the sinister “Sainte Marguerite de Cortone (1247 - 1297)”, the band returns to a Black Metal edge with excruciating atmospheric passages that are superbly melancholic and depressive.

As a whole, “Le Cloître” is one hell of a release that showcases the band’s excellent songwriting skills and wide range of styles they like to incorporate. We are particularly impressed as to how well all the previously mentioned genres and influences sound together, and how they create a very atmospheric, melancholic, and yet very heavy vibe. If you are looking for something truly unique, dissonant, and complex but still punishing, this is the release for you.

Label: Eisenwald

Release: April 12th, 2024

Genre: Black Metal

Country: Canada