steering clear of the mainstream
since 2001

june 2010

review
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info opinion

Enfer Boréal

"The Birth of Venus" CDR

Stunned Records

Genre: drone, ambient,  experimental

Bretagne, France

October 2009

More brilliant droney, throbbing, organic psych from the much-adored (by me) Stunned label. The understated artwork on this one is a delight, paving the way for a sublimely captivating album. I was unfamiliar with Enfer Boréal heading into this one, although the Myspace describes it as an output for "electric relaxation" from France's Maxime Primault.

Not sure I could put it any better myself. This is indeed soothing, ambient material, but it has a more human quality than many similarly atmospheric records. The opening track sounds like the ideal soundtrack to an early, heavily-deteriorated celluloid film - at once beautiful and tragic. It is followed up by a prettily mellow bit of post-rock drone, which is quickly juxtaposed by dense and mechanical noise-drone on track three. Closing out the record is the ethereal majesty of the fourth piece, and the haunting closer, which is an eerie combination of childishness and evil.

All in all, this is a very successful release from a relatively new solo project, and I'm excited to hear more from Primault. File under subtly psychedelic ambient/drone.

enfer boreal's myspace

Michael Tau

[Vitals: 5 tracks, ltd to 100, distributed by the label, released 2009]