Véhémence - Ordalies

Ordeals of the celestial warriors.

(Originally submitted to the Metal Archives on December 20th 2022) 

I’ll always find France’s black metal scene perplexing. Between the weirdness from bands like Deathspell Omega and Blut Aus Nord, and the fact that it’s as active and prevalent as it is, I’m astounded by just how much material they’ve put out over the years. Not only that, it’s a scene that has mutated from Mutiilation and Vlad Tepes to bands like the one we’ll be discussing here, Véhémence. The Frenchmen have made quite a splash with their 2019 sophomore, Par le sang versé, whose sweeping black metal propelled the album on a lot of people’s year-end lists. 3 years later we're met with the band’s third release, Ordalies, which was highly anticipated by those who were acquainted with their work. The question remains though: was it worth the hype?

The answer is “yes”, for the most part. Just like their previous work, Ordalies is pure, unadulterated, bombastic black metal. The riffs are teeming with melody, and are propelled by an explosive drumming performance, further enhanced by an excited vocal performance, which blends rasps with gruff cleans that anyone who speaks French will feel compelled to sing along to. Moments like the verses of “De feu et d’acier” and the thunderous riffing in “Notre royaume… en cendres” are prime examples of “epicness” in black metal being executed with grace without descending into power metal levels of cheese.

Like any good black metal though, we need tremolo riffs, and trust me, these are abundant throughout the almost hour-long runtime. They’re Véhémence’s bread and butter, their melody being imbued with an appropriately medieval flair, and while they might get a touch overbearing at times (more on that later), they work perfectly for the most part. The aforementioned “De feu et d’acier” is a great example of this, featuring an excellent riff which harmonises with the raspy vocals on top of it, resulting in one of the album’s most dramatic moments, as well as a very inspiring riff that’s being supported by driving kick drums on “La divine sorcellerie”.

That being said, there are moments where the band decides to hop off the tremolo train and provide us with something that’s a little more out of left field by this album’s standards. Stuff like the somewhat thrashier riffing at the beginning of “Au blason brûlé” and the melancholic riffing on “Par le glaive”, which also features a -frankly bitchin’- riff that’s supported by sublime choirs, leading us to a very dramatic climax. These parts stand out not only because they serve as a release to the built-up tension, but also because they’re not like the rest of the album.

Which brings us to Ordalies’ biggest failings, those being its scale and ironically enough, consistency. While I did mention that there’s no shortage of tremolo riffs here, there might just be too many, and they’re all played for far too long in a consistent fashion. Add to that the fact that every song here features multiple double bass runs, and you have music that blends together after a while. Not only that, outside of tracks like the interludes, “La divine sorcellerie”, and the closer, all of which have a more melancholic and less glorious tone, everything is just total bombast, making the album feel like an endurance test at times. Don’t get me wrong, the energy put forth by the other songs is excellent, but it’s only half an hour into the runtime that we get a substantial change in tone, and when taking into consideration the fact that some of these songs could be edited down a smidgen, that says a lot.

As for the production, it’s serviceable, albeit not quite my cup of tea. Sure, the instruments have plenty of bite, which does admittedly fit the style of black metal played here, but it’s too clean. I feel like some of black metal’s charm stems from having a slightly rougher sound, and Véhémence’s is so crisp and polished it teeters the line between “well-executed” and “artificial”. It feels quite loud at times too, especially the omnipresent kick drums, and it leads to me having to play the album at a lower volume in order to be able to appreciate the music more. That’s not to say that the mixing is bad, because like I said, everything barring the bass’ pulsing is clear, including the choirs and the more traditional instruments that appear throughout.

Ordalies, in all its bombast and explosiveness, seems to buckle under the weight of its own ambition at times, but manages to hold it together for the most part. Both its stronger and weaker aspects hold some frankly excellent moments, but some of them inevitably get lost in the shuffle, which is almost to be expected when taking into consideration the length. That being said, I do believe that Véhémence’s voice is quite important in the modern black metal landscape and deserves to be heard, they have the ideas and drive, all they need to do is focus more.

Highlights: Notre royaume… en cendres, La divine sorcellerie, Par le glaive

Rating: 84%