On November 10th internationally, Antiq is proud to present Grylle‘s highly anticipated second album, Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards.
Grylle is a band formed in 2013 in France. As soon as the first songs were published on the mesmerizing demo Monstres et Merveilles in 2014, the band claimed a radical style: medieval music (flutes, lute, medieval drums) with black metal vocals.
No use of synthesizers nor samples, neither any guitar: modern instruments are all banned. The lyrical theme of Grylle finds inspiration in the current social and political situation to write chronicles of our time through a medieval approach and a satirical point of view.
Following the demo came an album literally making the consensus: Les Grandes Compagnies in 2019. Black metal howled in French, played on lute and drummed with a metal drumkit. After a couple of years working with talented musicians and traditional artists, Grylle finally reveals its long-awaited new album: Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards.
Here on Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards, we talk about plague, diseases, and strange afflictions: themes that still nowadays sow panic through their constant walk of death, depicted through the medieval point of view that made Grylle one of a kind. Expect nothing less than black metal as it would have been made in the Middle Ages after the Great Plague fear: brutal, inventive, and without compromise. Nevertheless, elegance and majesty shine on this album, as depicted by the beautiful illumination of the cover created by the medievalist painter Miho Kuroyanagi. The musicians and guests take medieval black metal to the highest level of authenticity and creativity.
Musically, the base is that of a power-trio: fast and bizarre lute melodies by Hyver (Véhémence, Hanternoz), swinging and inventive bass with a ’70s prog approach by KK (Passéisme, Paroxysm Unit), and flamboyant and luxurious drums led by Cadavre (Cantique Lépreux, Mêlée des Aurores, Forteresse live). Above it, some strange and uncommon instruments are psalterions, flutes and pipes, Sarrazin guitar (or citole), and brass sections. And then, harsh vocals as you know Grylle‘s Hyver and La Griesche are capable of, enhanced by rare-but-angelic choirs.
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 the brand-new tracks “Grande Marche des Covidards” and “Mauvais Sang” HERE at Antiq‘s official YouTube channel. Aforementioned cover artwork and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Grylle’s Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacorhymes, Covidards
1. Grande Marche des Covidards
2. Mauvais Sang [3:27]
3. Moribon Flétri d’Orgueil [4:59]
4. Réservement de Confortale Présence [7:00]
5. Le Tropique du Cancer [3:58]
6. Queresle des Diables sur la Savance du Mort [7:16]
7. Le Triomphe de la Mort [6:16]