Veritas Liberabit Vos

“Veritas Liberabit Vos” is a new demo release (February 2012) from the French underground. Responsible for that, is a quite new band, Esphares, which was formed in 2007 and consists of one member only. Their first demo was released in 2008 and it is contained in the second side of the cassette of “Veritas Liberabit Vos” as bonus tracks. Well, their new demo contains five tracks and one intro of twenty six minutes and its music is a mixture of Scandinavian and French Black Metal, with harsh sound and interesting compositions.

The riffs are which play the first role in the compositions. Here we’ll find mainly fast melodies, quite interesting, with enough variety and good technique. By the first seconds already the influences by the French scene, meaning bands like Celestia which have a melancholic feeling in their sound, are noticed, without though becoming annoying. The guitars have a melancholic sound and deliver the riffs with accuracy and feeling. The drums fill in the guitars with fast tempos and nice turnings. The bass is just here and does its job without appearing much. The vocals are harsh and whispering Black Metal vocals, which almost aren’t touched at all in the studio, they are quite expressive and powerful.

The production is raw but at the same time very clean, so the result is that the sound can be listened clearly but the harsh style of the compositions not to be lost. The mix is very good as every instrument is distinguished, but giving special attention to the guitar’s sound which is the strong point of the album. The lyrics are written in French but they aren’t contained in the promo version sent by the label, so I don’t know what they refer to.

Generally Esphares with their second demo show that there is talent and will to work. Maybe the influences are heavy but the personal identity of the band also appears. A band which searches its sound and as it seems they will find it sooner or later. I suggest this release to all fans of the more melancholic sound of the French school, while the rest, listen to it.