Miracles: Totem Taboo

[Disclaimer – I had written a first review for this release, more than ten years ago. Without claiming that one to be better, a retrospective look was much needed.]

“Avant, on avait fait Miracles – Totem Taboo, un truc totalement barré” (before, we had made Miracles – Totem Taboo, totally fucked-up stuff) – That’s how ten years later bass player Jean-Jacques Moréac would reflect on this release, and that’s as accurate as a description can be. Miracles... is not a real album, but a compilation consisting in three distinct parts dubbed “Miracles”. “Miracle 1” is four new tracks specially recorded for this release, “Miracle 2” two alternate versions of tracks from previous year’s Variations on Inductive Theories, and “Miracle 3” the 1992 Deus Puerilis demo, which apparently had not been properly distributed at the time.

The four tracks from the Deus Puerilis demo, recorded with a different line-up, stand at odd with the rest. It is mostly death metal with a faint progressive touch, reminiscent of early Therion, where one can hardly distinguish the premise of later Misanthrope sound. There’s this bit of Gregorian chant sampling at the beginning of Deus Puerilis, and that’s for the eccentricity – not that it broke any ground. Forget about twisted vocal performances; only growls to be found there, frail growls which betray both lack of training and bad vocals mixing. Fast riffs pile up, but none of them is unforgettable, some being even recycled from older demos (compare the opening of Velvet Solemn Quest with Crisis of Souls for instance). And, no bass recorded – an irony for a band which would soon become remarkable for its loudly mixed technical bass lines. Still, the occasional chase for melody and extended lead guitar sections in the two last tracks seem to suggest something more was already in the way.

The two other parts were recorded with the same line-up as Variations on Inductive Theories, and are the direct continuation of the progressive-atmospheric-avant-garde-whatever metal of that album. Two songs were directly borrowed from it. The gloomy remix of La Demiurge is shorter, but even sicker than the original, with a strong emphasis set on bass and drums to create a haunting effect... or at least that’s what must have been intended, but the actual outcome is so poorly mixed it becomes hardly listenable. Coming to Maudit Sois-tu Soleil !, it is actually an alternate version of Aquarium, the only “sane” track on Variations... This anomaly had to be fixed, thus Philippe Courtois and co. decided to render it as insane as the rest, making it acoustic, adding shredding solos, and replacing the original growls by delirious crying vocals – in French of course. Decadent and genius altogether.

Eventually, the brand new material – which, if you followed well, is at the beginning of the album – represents the furthest point Misanthrope has stepped into what some may call avant-garde, some other total nonsense. When an album opens on a lone (sampled?) saxophone, you know it’s serious business... or not. First issue, complex song structures and elaborated instrumentation would have deserved a clean production, prog rock style, not the powerless mud which is proposed here, where guitars fuzz and volume keeps going up and down for no reason. At least the vocals were mixed louder than on Variations..., for correct appreciation of Philippe Courtois’s mad performance, mostly tormented cleans, but the occasional growls or even black metal shrieks are to be found as well. Second, cramming all your ideas together at random in a single track, has never made a song, and calling the result “progressive” only works as a poor excuse. Death metal, mellow acoustic romance, nowhere-going solos, classical music samples (L’Erotique Courtoise, or Miracle, their first attempt at orchestral music), some doom riffing as well, Black-Sabbath-fashion (this middle part of Æsthetic Fluttering!)... let the listener string everything together... if he can.

A recurring complaint in every Misanthrope release prior to Visionnaire, alas, but never so true as here.

Highlight: Maudit sois-tu Soleil !

After Misanthrope's confused debut, they offered this package of two mini-albums (or is it three?). Maybe not a real album, but certainly memorable and with much tighter playing.

Production is vastly improved, but Philippe's vocals have remained schizophrenic. There are some parts that leave me scratching my head, and some that just meander into nowhere, but overall, they're moving in the right direction.

"Standing at the Galaxy" is not as moving of a lead off track, but still good. "L'erotique Courtoise" is a sequel to "Childhood Memories," and is equally as good, with some great transitions. Really fucked up lyrics, too, if you understand French. "Maudit soit tu, Soleil!" is bascially "The Aquarium" from the first album recorded acoustically and in French. I don't know, but I really like this song. The other songs on this half are pretty dull, though, especially the synth instrumental, "Miracle."

The last two songs were recorded without bass, but holy fuck! These are ripping testaments to eccentric doomy death! The guitars and drums sound nasty and heavy as hell, ripping out of my speakers like a swarm of angry bats. Musically somewhat like The Chasm's first demo, Samael's Worship Him, and possibly the melody of early Paradise Lost, this shit gets you headbanging right away. And there are still quite a few little twists, with the weird vocals and crazy guitar solos. Fuck, if only they could have made a whole album of stuff like this...

Overall, this is a vast improvement, but still there are tons of wrinkles that need to be smoothed out. The band sounds tighter, the production is better, and added heaviness keeps things a bit more focused.