Artist: Les Fleurs Du Mal
Title: Concrete Ravings
Genre: Rock Noir/ Gothic Rock
Release Date: 3rd May 2013
Label: Echozone
Album Review
LES FLEURS DU MAL, meaning ‘The Flowers of Evil’ in English, is a volume of verse by beloved-of-Goths French poet Charles Baudelaire. With death, decadence and eroticism as its themes, it’s the perfect name for any band who describe their sound as Rock Noir. And so two Swedes, delightfully named Axel and August Grim (possibly not their real names) release an album, ‘Concrete Ravings’ under the LES FLEURS DU MAL moniker. Formed in 2009, this is their first full-length release and follows two well received singles.
It doesn’t mess about. A melancholic fragment of poetry introduces ‘A Remorseful Day’ and makes it perfectly clear on which side of the day this record will be residing. The song itself is an exhilarating adrenalin rush, hurtling along with busy guitars and strong, deep vocals. There’s a shift in modern Gothic right now, where everyone seems to have finally stopped trying to sound like either THE SISTERS OF MERCY or THE FILEDS OF THE NEPHILIM, and this lot perfectly encapsulate this, a vein also currently tapped by exciting new UK band RED SUN REVIVAL. ‘Idolatry’ has everything going on at once, excellent guitar work, some furious percussion, and a change of pace in the chorus that makes the verses all the more vibrant. A bit of synth plinking about in there too, even finding time to name-drop ‘The Catcher In The Rye’, really the Grim brothers can sit back and be mightily smug about this one. It’s Goth, boys, but not as we know it.
Despite the terrible title, ‘Concrete Ravings’ starts off brooding and expectant and soon works itself up into a sweat. It’s a real dance-floor winner when it gets going, “let the revelries commence” gently prodding those lazing in the shadows into the lights and smoke of a 2am club-night. It will make an excellent single, showcasing pretty much everything the band are about. A change of mood and pace with ‘Celebrity Gala’, there’s a prominent bass weaving its way around the lush vocals. A synth mid-section adds to the grandness and melancholy, patiently laying itself out as ‘Disintegration’ era THE CURE, which is surely no bad thing. ‘The Storm’, despite an encouraging start, is somewhat bland, but ‘Stink’ that follows it, more than makes amends. Eighties percussion and power-pop dynamics propel this gem into a brilliantly catchy chorus, and at just over three minutes, it sticks to the plot and does the job very nicely.
‘The Knife In My Back’, wisely included here, was an earlier single and helped cause a stir when released. Importantly, as a past glory, it’s not the best song on ‘Concrete Ravings’, it takes rather too long to get to the punched “The knife in my back was you” line, but it’s a solid enough sweep of minimal gothic guitar plucking, urgent beats and bleakly delivered lyrics. Which leaves ‘Substanceless Abuse’ to round things off. Grave-deep vocals whisper and purr over a scratchy backdrop, eventually none-more-black keyboards sweeping in. It’s impossibly dark, and oozes a bizarre mixture of acute sadness, absolute horror, and a nasty, creeping sense of menace. It’s one of the best genuinely-Gothic songs I have heard in years. And as it plummets defiantly downwards towards a sinister and unforgettable ending, there’s the real sense that this is something truly special that will soundtrack a number of favourite nightmares for years to come.
LES FLEURS DU MAL, then, succeed admirably in shaking the Goth-Rock foundations, while never deviating too far from the well-worn path. That in itself is a genuine skill. And despite a few moments where the ideas seemed to have temporarily dried up, this is a bold and imaginative offering that should see the band rapidly gaining the credit they most definitely deserve.
Tracklist
01. A Remorseful Day
02. Idolatry – In Vain
03. Concrete Ravings
04. Nothing
05. Strigoi System
06. Celebrity Gala
07. Idolatry – In Pain
08. The Storm
09. Stink
10. The Knife In My Back
11. Substanceless Abuse
Line-up
Axel Grim
August Grim
Additional Live line-up
Luger Hapten
Erik Lazaroff
Website
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Les-Fleurs-du-Mal/183447855778 / http://www.lesfleursdumal.se
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 8
Total: 8 / 10
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