Erlen Meyer – Sang et Or (Review)

Erlen Meyer are from France and play post-hardcore/metal. This is their second album.

I’ve been looking forward to this release ever since the band’s 2013’s self-titled debut. I managed to catch them live at 2016’s Damnation Festival and interview them too, so this is definitely an album I’ve been awaiting.

This new release mixes the band’s sludgy post-hardcore/metal together once more into an engaging 44 minutes of music. They’ve picked up a bit more of a blackened veneer too since their debut, and Sang et Or is arguably darker and bleaker than their debut album because of it. This is no bad thing.

Erlen Meyer have refined their songwriting since their debut, and the songs are typically shorter and more direct, (although this is relatively speaking, of course). It’s great to hear the band trying out a few different ideas in the songs too, all of which seem to work well and simply add to their nightmarish appeal. This also contributes to the feeling that each track has its own distinct personality and nuances; everything has its place, its own reason for being here.

The songs are atmospheric and heavy, which is a fitting way to sum up this album I suppose, as Sang et Or has both atmosphere and heaviness in spades. Delivered with different levels of intensity and layers of texture, this is music that you can easily let swamp you, getting covered in the walls of crushing guitars and pitch-black riffs. The songs have an emotive power that’s apparent from the very first few seconds, and is your unrelenting companion as the album unfolds.

Erlen Meyer have always operated on the darker end of the post-hardcore/metal spectrum, but on Sang et Or they sound more apocalyptic than ever.

The singer’s voice sounds harsher and more intense too. His performance is of a higher level than it was previously, and with a wider range. Sharp, passionate, and focused, he acts as the music’s apocalyptic herald.

Achingly dark, nightmarishly bleak, and emotively delivered, Sang et Or is an album that has surpassed my high expectations. It’s great to have Erlen Meyer back, and in such fine form.

Very highly recommended.