The Paradox of Beauty in Extreme Metal: Why Viande’s Monument aux morts Fails to Fully Deliver
Let me confess something uncomfortable: I’ve always found veganism and extreme metal to share a peculiar kinship. Both reject mainstream palates, challenge societal norms, and thrive on intensity. So reviewing a band named Viande—French for ‘meat’—as a vegan feels like staring into a funhouse mirror. But here we are. Viande’s sophomore album Monument aux morts arrives as a slab of musical carrion, daring us to feast on its腐烂 grandeur. And yet, beneath the gore, there’s a question that gnaws back: Can brutality alone sustain art, or does true horror require something deeper?
The Illusion of Progress in Chaotic Soundscapes
Viande’s musical DNA is a Frankensteinian splice of Incantation’s suffocating riffs, Thantifaxath’s disorienting spirals, and Praise the Plague’s operatic dread. This isn’t innovation—it’s evolution through mutation. The band’s ability to weave dissonance into textures that feel alive is undeniable. When the feedback howls in ‘L’esprit cachot’ or the drums collapse into the abyss during ‘L’homme Brasier,’ it’s like hearing a soul being torn apart in real time. But here’s the rub: these moments feel less like deliberate choices and more like lucky fractures in the chaos. The album’s 60-minute runtime reveals a troubling pattern—its greatest strength (atmospheric suffocation) is also its Achilles’ heel. Repetition becomes a blunt instrument, not a hypnotic spell.
Why Atmosphere Alone Can’t Save This Monument
Let’s dissect the production. The ‘filth-encrusted’ mix is a double-edged sword. Those guttural growls buried under 10 layers of reverb? They create a sense of vast, tomb-like space—until they blur into white noise. I kept reaching to adjust my headphones, as if the problem was my equipment, not the album’s refusal to prioritize clarity. This isn’t a flaw; it’s a philosophy. Viande wants you disoriented, drowning in sonic muck. But if every moment feels equally oppressive, does anything truly震撼? Compare this to Ultha’s masterful The Inextricable Wound, where dynamics breathe like a living corpse rising. Viande’s approach is admirable in theory, exhausting in practice.
The Hidden Cost of Musical Cannibalism
What fascinates me most is how Viande cannibalizes its own influences. The Thantifaxath-ian spirals in ‘Sacrifice Ardent’ aren’t just nods—they’re full-blown possession. Yet in this mimicry lies a deeper truth about extreme metal: the genre’s obsession with legacy often strangles originality. Here’s a band teetering on the edge of something revolutionary, yet repeatedly yanked back by its devotion to the altar of ‘brutality.’ The grooves in ‘Linceul Immense’? They’re oddly compelling, almost danceable—if you imagine the dance floor as a charnel house. These glimpses of rhythmic inventiveness suggest Viande could transcend its death metal cocoon. But will they?
The Psychological Toll of ‘Horror’ as a Formula
Let’s address the elephant in the mausoleum: Why does Monument aux morts leave me cold despite its technical prowess? Because horror, when reduced to a formula, loses its teeth. Modern extreme metal suffers from a ‘jump-scare’ syndrome—relying on volume, speed, and dissonance as cheap thrills. True terror comes from restraint. Consider the haunting minimalism of ‘Une cage d’os’—the way a single minor melody haunts the background like a half-remembered nightmare. These are the moments that linger, not the 4-minute tremolo blasts that blur into sonic sludge. Viande’s next masterpiece won’t arrive through escalation, but through subtraction.
Final Verdict: A Monument to What, Exactly?
Monument aux morts succeeds as a technical achievement but stumbles as an emotional experience. It’s a warning sign for a genre at a crossroads: Will extreme metal continue chasing the high of pure extremity, or will artists dare to inject vulnerability into their violence? Viande stands at this precipice, their hands stained with the blood of their influences. I can’t wait to hear what they create when they finally let go of the corpse and start building something new.
