EXPLORING THE WORLD - MESDAMES ET MESSIEURS...FRENCH METAL (PT.1: DARK PROGRESSIVE SOUNDS)

In the past few years France's metal fan base has been rapidly expanding, outlining a very interesting heavy music community and giving birth to some truly amazing bands. The 3 biggest names are currently Eths (who added a progressive twist to their groove metal sound in their latest album "III"), the progressive death metal masters Hacride (who are going to release a new album "Back To Where You've Never Been" in 2013) and especially Gojira, who are currently the band which every French metalhead should be proud of. Their 2012 album "L'Enfant Sauvage" was acclaimed as 2012's album of the year by a large portion of the specialized press.

 
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A lot of incredible music recently emerged from the underground: I'm sure a lot of you have been blown away by the greatness of Uneven Structure music. Their uplifting music and atmospheres are some of the best things to come out of the djent / thall scene so far. Uneven Structure's 2011 album "Februus" is something you absolutely MUST give a listen to, if you haven't yet. It was actually named our 2011 album of the year. We also strongly recommend you to give a listen to WorC, the solo project of Uneven Structures guitarist Aurélien Perreira and Eggeh, the project of other guirarist Igor Omodei if you're looking for some similar amazing material. THALL.

 
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In the wake of Gojira's dark sounds, we can find 3 amazing bands who create impressive music covered by gloomy atmospheres... and they all released an album in 2012. The first one, Blut Aus Nord, is by now a black metal legend. Formed in 1994 as a solo project by Vindsval (currently vocalist and guitarist), this avant-garde black metal band released their 10th studio album in 2012, "777 - Cosmophony" the third episode of their "777" trilogy. It was anticipated by two more releases in 2011, "Sect(s)" and "The Desantification". Give a listen below to one of the tracks out of their last album.

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Eryn Non Dae. is another french band meeting with success right now, especially in Europe thanks to their 2012 album "Meliora". They deliver downtempo sounds using huge and heavy guitars immersed into an obscure atmosphere. Their latest album, the third of their career, was largely appreciated by the critics too. They've also became popular as a live band playing a lot of shows in France and all around Europe, also in support of Hacride. This summer they'll also be playing at Hellfest in France and UK Tech-Fest.

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And if you're searching for some experimental and psychedelic metal, you're in the right place! Hypno5e is a progressive metal band bringing dark progressive metal especially built on ambiance. Amazing soundscapes and 10 minute-long musical experiences make this band a must listen. They have toured throughout France and the United States with other bands such as Gojira, The Ocean Collective, Watcha, Black Bomb Ä and Eths. Since their birth in 2003, they've released a demo, an EP and two albums. The first one, "Des Deux L'une Est L'autre", was released in 2007, but they reached the summit of their musical research in 2012 with the mind-blowing album "Acid Mist Tomorrow". A videoclip for the single "Story Of The Eye" was uploaded on Got-Djent's YouTube channel and you better give it a listen right now.

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Another band who definitely deserves a mention is Atlantis Chronicles. This forthcoming five-piece band is the most promising thing to come out of Paris underground metal scene. They just released their debut album "Ten Miles Underwater" through Coroner Records in March. An amazing concept album wich showed everyone the amazing skills and talent of this great musicians. A powerfull mix of death, progressive and hardcore wich might really takes "Ten Miles Underwater" to become one of the best debut albums of the year. Check em out!

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There's really a lot of incredible stuff coming out of France, and it all deserves to be promoted properly. Therefore Exploring The World is  coming back to France soon to discover a lot more amazing French metal. Stay tuned \m/

- MATTIA

ATLANTIS CHRONICLES "TEN MILES UNDERWATER" ALBUM REVIEW

This is probably going to be one of the best newcomer releases of the year! Paris based Atlantis Chronicles recently dropped their highly anticipated, debut full-length album, "Ten Miles Underwater".

As we told you in the album preview, this is a concept album about the story of William Beebe, the first major undersea explorer of history. In 1934 he went down to a depth of 923 meters near the Nonsuch Island, inside a single-seater bathysphere mostly designed on his own. He explored the frightening and nevertheless fascinating flora and fauna of the oceans depths, immersed into a complete darkness. Because of the high pressure and claustrophobia William will start to lose his mental balance and to confuse reality and hallucinations.

Actually, musically speaking, the band delivers an insane and blasting mix of Death, Metalcore, and Progressive Metal, brought to you by five talented and creative musicians. Especially the two guitarists, Alex "Ash" Houngbo and Jérôme Blazquez. Together, they bring some incredible shredding, enthralling solos, and some absurdly crushing riffs and breakdowns. But you can also appreciate the remarkable musical inventiveness of their bassist Mikael Rumèbe and drummer Sydney Taieb. Also the intense vocals provided by singer Antoine Bibent.

The album starts off with the creepy intro "Enter The Bathysphere..." wich will immediatly drag you down into the deep insanity caused by the darkness of the oceanic abyss that will surround you for the entirety of the album. In fact, the following track "...And Embrace The Abyss" is a wild, furious song which will immediatly give you an idea of the band's technical and creative capabilities. It serves as one of the fastest and most powerful songs of the album. After that we can enjoy the two singles already released by the band, "Echoes Of Silence" and "Thousand Carybdea", both of which are amazingly perfect!

This magical and unpredictable musical adventure continues as the band brings us to discover the unbelievable creatures of the unexplored abyss with original tunes like "Homocen" and the title track "Ten Miles Underwater". Song after song you'll find a lot of heavy material in which the band reveals their ability to bring both catchy melodies and groovy passages. Every track features its own specific sound, which always strikes as majestic and impressive. The album is magnificently closed by an epic instrumental called "William Beebe", which ends the concept with a soft and dramatic piano outro.

We can completely approve of this huge release from Coroner Records. It manages to avoid being repetitive and maintains a high level of quality from the beginning til the end. "Ten Miles Underwater" is a beautiful musical trip that will submerge your ears and mind. You just can't miss it.

- MATTIA

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ATLANTIS CHRONICLES "TEN MILES UNDERWATER" ALBUM PREVIEW

Brace yourselves because there's a new incredible band coming from the deepest waters of the ocean, from the heart of the Earth, or better from Paris, France! Atlantis Chronicles is an incredibly talented and creative five-piece band putting together Death, Metalcore and Progressive elements in a devastating metal mix.

Formerly known as "ABYSS", the band changed its name in 2010 for copyright reasons and at the same time added a new member as lead singer. They released a free Ep in 2009 entitled "Against The Sea" and now they are ready to unleash their debut full-length album "Ten Miles Underwater". It is going to a be a concept album about the story of William Beebe, the first major undersea explorer of history: in 1934 he went down to a depth of 923 meters near the Nonsuch Island, inside a single-seater bathysphere mostly designed on his own. He explored the frightening and nevertheless fascinating flora and fauna of the dephts of the ocean, immersed into a complete darkness. Because of the high pressure and claustrophobia William will start to lose his mental balance and to confuse reality and hallucinations. The band will bring us to discover the unbelievable creatures of the unexplored abyss, leading us to the borders of the known world in a magical and unpredictable musical trip.

Their sound is really impressive and every member brings his great amount of talent and creativity to this musical pattern, made of dreaming and touching melodies, powerful riffage and amazing guitar solos. You absolutely need to check out their new beautiful music video for the song "Thousands Carybdea" which features some really cool and unique guitar skills (and design too!) among with the lyric video for the song "Echoes Of Silence" and a cool studio diary. The album is scheduled to release on March 4th via Coroner Records and pre-orders are now available only at the Coroner Records official store. So, what else do you need? Just dive into their music and get ready for this incredible adventure!

- MATTIA

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