Mourir – Animal Bouffe Animal (Review)

This is the debut album from Mourir, a black metal band from France.

The music on Animal Bouffe Animal takes influence from the Scandinavian second wave, but then updates this with modern touches and uncomfortable dissonance, scathing sludge, and harrowing doom. The end result is 34 minutes of atmospheric rawness that combines old and new to produce something hideously enjoyable.

The songs are feral and restrained at the same time, lashing at the listener with harsh cold blackened guitars, while crushing with unfeeling dissonance and dark heaviness. The feeling of a deep-set corruption runs through this music. The songs exude malice and hateful atmosphere, while also ripping and tearing away with fanatical abandon. Shot through this are moments of twisted melody, the sort that simply add to the general feeling of malevolence that infuses everything here.

Despite how unfriendly and malignant, and how unrelentingly grim this album is, Animal Bouffe Animal is still a remarkably textured listen. The music has all sorts of hidden depths beneath its malignant exterior, and brave explorers can find many labyrinths to lose themselves in. Although an undeniably intense listen, it’s a multifaceted one, with longevity built in through good songwriting and a structured approach to adding nuance to chaos. Initial appearances might not convince everyone, but Mourir’s music is just as much about atmosphere, mood, and emotion as it is aggression and hostility. It’s the marrying up of these extremes where this music excels.

Animal Bouffe Animal is an exceptionally good listen, and definitely one I’d expect to see only growing in popularity over time, given the right underground exposure.