By Ola Mazzuca
Whether you feel that black metal bands of today are becoming increasingly predictable or losing their touch, there’s always going to be something for everyone even if it just passes the bar of mediocrity.
Thus we have Bordeaux, France’s Otargos, blast beats and all. They may not be Scandinavian, but are talented in their demonic craft and the corpsepaint they sport isn’t for laughs. It’s flat-out black metal, but that doesn’t make it excruciatingly boring or plain.
The entire album is so melancholic and dark, slowing down in areas but always picking up exactly where it left off. Percussionist Thyr has much skill in providing his bandmates with the exact amount of support in all sections of a track, never pushing his limits or holding back.
Fuck God-Disease Process is a perfect example of contrast. “La Genèse De Dieu” has riffage slightly reminiscent of Gorgoroth’s sound on Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam with areas following a leisurely pace. Although “The Wall of Galaxies” and “Pour Toi Une Renaissance” are different from each other, they still manage to carry out the same ambience. Despite all the raspy black metal screeching, “Nullabsolut” jumps back and forth between some major guttural tones. The album closes with much chaos in “Entropy Omega” which clearly shows Otargos’ plan for an extremely pummeling ending.
The French are pretty great at whatever they choose to do. You’ve got prog/death metallers Gojira, Coco Chanel and Claude Monet amongst many holding up this fab Euro country’s reputation. Although Otargos’ sound isn’t as innovative as it could be or something that has recently been unearthed, it isn’t a bad piece of work as Fuck God-Disease Process reveals honest black metal that an array of individuals know and love today.
(Season Of Mist)
7/10
