I was mistaken when I previously insinuated that there were only two French metal bands you needed to listen to because apparently there are now three. If you take the best parts of Gojira and Hacride and mix them with some Meshuggah to up the technical aspect then you might have an idea of what Eryn Non Dae sound like. With Meliora, they’ve constructed an intense and extremely dense body of music that stands defiantly apart from their French countrymen.
With barely a song lasting under six minutes, the first thing heavy music fans will notice on Meliora is that if something is not worth taking your time to say in Eryn Non Dae then it’s not worth saying at all. Take the almost nine minute opener “Chrysalis” and the gradual build that shows not only what a powerhouse Mathieu B. Nogues is behind the mic but also that complexity over uniformity will always prevail.
“The Great Downfall” is this even more expansive dirge with a two minute intro that absolutely destroys when the band kicks in and Nogues ventures to the low register making this one even more sinister. Later on, “Scarlet Rising” sports some Meshuggah sized riffage and time changes that puts drummer Julien Rufie solely in the spotlight while dueling guitars by Franck Quintin and Yann Servanin light up “Ignitus”. Concluding with the vicious “Hidden Lotus”, Eryn Non Dae cap off a triumphant second album that’s not to be missed.
When you hear the term “French metal”, it might be Gojira that immediately comes to mind but if Eryn Non Dae continues to concoct albums like Meliora they’ll be the only band you think of when you hear that term from now on.
Meliora is out now. Go here to get your very own copy.
Grade: B