French pagan-black metal vanguard Hanternoz stream the entirety of their highly anticipated third album, Au Fleuve de Loire, at the Black Metal Promotion YouTube channel. Set for international release on May 3rd via Antiq, hear Hanternoz‘s Au Fleuve de Loire in its entirety exclusively HERE.
Hanternoz is a French Breton band formed by Hyvermor (Véhémence, Grylle, Régiment)and Sparda (Créatures, Cataèdes). Started in 2006 as raw folk black metal, it has now evolved into a personal blend of pagan black metal and atmospheric epic black metal. Their music is usually made of layers on layers of atmospheres and build-ups connected to the lyrics.
Most of the lyrics of Hanternoz nowadays start on the base of a local legend and then make it sound in comparison to the personal lives of the musicians. Choices of life, errors, lessons taught by time, and evolving in their own lives just sound like an echo of ancient folktales. Most legends serving as a basis for the lyrics originate from Bretagne or Anjou, as the band hails from this exact frontier region.
Hanternoz’s music is usually based on guitar riffs originally, with a strong medieval and epic feeling already, then worked and reworked with layers of various instruments, on which some choirs and traditional instruments help build up a dense and powerful atmosphere.
Au Fleuve de Loire is the long-awaited third full-length of Hanternoz, following two concept-splits, one EP compilation, and two albums, the last of which came in 2010 with Linceuls d’écume.
Au Fleuve de Loire is meant to be a tribute to the longest and largest of French rivers, the Loire. For the first time, a river is the main character of a black metal album, and here is why: wildest and most protected big river of France, it is also the frontier of the two main languages of France until modern times. Making access to Atlantic Ocean direct to Paris thanks to the stream downwards and the perfect winds upwards, the river quickly became the “Kings’ river, and King of Rivers” as many fortresses, ruling places, and châteaux were installed on its banks.
The river is here presented in many ways, from the natural point of view of endangered species to the many drowned souls it carries, from the Industrial Era and mechanization to the medieval history, from the fishing industry (viewed from the fishes’ point of view!) to the memories of the lyricist’s childhood.
Musically, the sound is stronger and more powerful, carried by a variety of guests and helping hands. The most accomplished and worked-through Hanternoz album to date, it also lyrically confirms the band’s premier status of a mystical approach applied to ancient tales.
Antiq is a label dedicated to the fully coherent concept of making music through sound, image, video, and attitude. They have been putting their entire existence into it since 2009. Over the years, Antiq have been identified as producers of not only perfectly coherent lyrics and themes through music, but also conceptual art and, of course, the manufacturing of beautiful objects. The label tries as much as it can to work with French creators, and if possible, with the smallest and most serious structures.
In the meantime, hear Hanternoz‘s Au Fleuve de Loire in its entirety exclusively HERE, courtesy of Black Metal Promotion. Cover artwork, courtesy of David Thiérrée, and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Hanternoz’s Au Fleuve de Loire
1. Déjà la Nuit [0:50]
2. A Cul de Grève [9:13]
3. Ce Que le Fleuve a Pris [8:55]
4. L’Hanterdro de Languidic [7:17]
5. Vieille Nasse Crevée [10:37]
6. Bateliers de Loire [6:07]
7. Le Roi René a Fait Mander [9:48]
8. Hérons dans ma Mémoire [9:20
9. Bientôt la Nuit [1:26]
MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/Hanternoz-Pagan-de-Bretagne-144124245602843