LES CHASSEURS DE LA NUIT

"Homo Homini Lupus"

Heiðrunar Myrkrunar / Tesco - 2007

CD

The luxurious nocturnal and mimetic digipack which contains the debut of German new-comers Les Chasseurs De La Nuit looks as mysterious as the band itself: nothing is known or revealed about Mark Liens, the guy behind this French-named project, except for the photo featured in the innersleeve, where he appears heavily masked and camouflaged à la Douglas P. Easy to guess that "Homo Homini Lupus" is massively influenced by the likes of Death In June, NON, Blood Axis and the early Der Blutharsch, both in imagery and sound.

All 14 tracks included on the CD are untitled, and vary between martial / orchestral pieces, doomy apocalyptic keyboard sceneries, minimal noise loop experiments, fanfares, and two acoustic ballads with Of The Wand And The Moon 's Kim Larsen as guest vocalist. So, what you get in the end is a nearly complete collection of all the different styles which have emerged in the neofolk and "martial" area in the last ten / fifteen years. The CD starts in a more noisy and subtler way, eventually soaring around the middle, with tracks # 8, 11 and 12 being quite effective and atmospheric.

The problem of "Homo Homini Lupus" is represented by a constant feeling of incomplete: it could be the lack of vocals, but this collection of untitled moments looks more like a heart-felt tribute to Liens' inspirers, often through almost copycat quotes from their music, rather than a finished work. Although undoubtedly powerful and atmospheric, Les Chasseurs De La Nuit fails to stand out as defined entity with a strong personality. Being this its debut release, however, the project has plenty of time to develop its style and find a personal path in the twilight lands of the brown area.

- Simon V.

Website: http://www.chasseurs.org

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/chasseurs