Visionnaire

[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.]

In the wake of the recording turmoil of year 1995 that eventually led to the shaky 1666... Théâtre Bizarre, one year and a half later a somehow stabilized Misanthrope decided to fly to the brand new Fredman Studio, Gothenburg, Sweden, in quest for some exciting, exotic sound to bring back to the then-innocent French ears. Thus began what will later be dubbed the band's Swedish Trilogy... Now, wait a second. “We never intended to sound Swedish”, Philippe Courtois will peremptorily affirm a few years later. Sorry, my friend, but when you proudly wear a Dark Tranquillity T-shirt on your band picture, and hire both Anders Fridén and Jesper Strömblad, of In Flames fame, to respectively sing and play the guitar on a couple of tracks, your intentions could hardly have been made clearer. “[Philippe] was interested in everything coming from Sweden”, says virtuoso bassist Jean-Jacques Moréac pretty much at the same time. Remember to always read between the lines, when dealing with Misanthrope.

In any case, the complete transmutation of the Gothenburg sound into its unique French bastardization will not take place before the following album. For then, the band was yet in an exploratory stage. Whether we choose to believe the whole 1666... was supposed to be our last release story or not, the willingness to take a fresh start following the line-up revolution from the previous year was obvious – obvious, and explicitly stated right from the introductory paragraph of the album booklet, typical slice of this baroque, grandiloquent purple prose, hardly intelligible even to native French speakers, which will become one of Misanthrope’s immediately recognizable trademarks. New start also for Philippe himself, who will from then on be known exclusively as S.A.S de l'Argilière, this both fascinating and embarrassing persona endlessly raving about Molière, French History, Roman Catholicism and even contemporary politics, for the best and the worst together.

Conscious Swedish influence or not, there's no need to dig for too long before finding echoes of At the Gates, In Flames or Dark Tranquillity here. That is, echoes only. Misanthrope didn't discover melodic death metal in Gothenburg, obviously. The primary, crucial contribution from the Fredman Studio may rather have been: finally providing the band with a production matching its ambitions. Finally the heavy parts, and they're numerous, can unleash their full power; finally vocals triumph, loud and clear; finally the keyboards sound more grandiose than your average six-years-old kid toy piano. All the instruments, to sum up, blend harmoniously together even in the most complex moments, rather than sounding like recorded on different planets. Oddly perhaps, it seems Philippe & co. yet didn't feel fully satisfied, considering the remastered version that was issued in 2005. A remaster which adds little to the original – a tad cleaner perhaps, and punchier, at the expense of the 90's vibe. It includes the nice leftover track Impermanence et Illumination, though; but that one could be found on the Recueil d'Ecueils compilation anyway.

But if Visionnaire might be the most gothenburgized of all the Misanthrope releases, the path to Sweden first had to pass through... Argentina. Sergio Gruz – that's the name of the man that Jean-Jacques Moréac, newly promoted from the job of a mere session bass player to the prestigious position of musical director, whatever that meant, recruited to push the keyboards to the next level. That wasn't the first time our French progressive death metal experimenters were toying with keyboards, mind you; but that's the first time they became central to their sound, to be surpassed only four years later with the sheer orchestral madness of Misanthrope Immortel. And that's a part Gothenburg has nothing to do with. The piano scores from Projector – released two years later, by the way – sound like harmless children play when compared to señor Gruz's work. In its most benign form, said work transcribes into some out-of-space interlude in the middle of an otherwise straightforward melodeath number (Hands of the Puppeteer) – that's when it remains somehow under control. Because there's nothing like the fury of an enraged piano, and Satan knows that one is wild. Strong classical inspiration, with the occasional hints of rock n' roll tapping, Chuck Berry style; who cares about the exact influences, as long as it's fast and wild.

Now the guitars aren't in rest, if only to remind the crowd we're indeed talking death metal, rather than Molière: the Musical. This album, like its successor, essentially belongs to the more brutal side of Misanthrope. If, fooled by a misleading opener (Futile Future) much too gentle to be honest, you need further convincing, just jump to Hypochondrium Forces, Le silence des grottes and above all Irrévérencieux - ten seconds of grand piano tumble followed by six minutes of complete carnage. At the time the guys for sure loved their blastbeats and low-pitched growls, even if the vocals still haven't lost their trademark versatility, not disdaining either clean breaks or manic shouts – THROUGH THE DESILLUSION OF LIFE! – IRREVERENCIEUX!! – VISIONNAIRE!!! When suddenly all calm down for a welcome majestic moment, like the slow melodic break at 3:05 in the title track with its unforgettable lead guitar, or the one-and-only Misanthrope classic, the song they've played at literally every show, that's Bâtisseur de cathédrales - metaphor of the never-ending toil of the underground metalhead.

If the extensive fast keyboard / grand piano lines give Visionnaire a distinct unity amongst a discography which is usually defined by its contrasts and antitheses, local oddities are still to be found; that wouldn't be Misanthrope without. There's the obligatory soft song, called La rencontre rêvée here, complete with clean guitar trickles and de l'Argilière's alternately whispered and grunted poetry. Not the best of the genre, but the rampant experimental mood saves it from the total ninny that was Aphrodite marine on the previous album. There's, again, the mid-tempo Futile Future, devoid of any keyboard delirium or riffing violence, lone island in an ocean of madness and textbook example of an opener absolutely NOT representative of the album it opens. And even the tracks which seem to fit the general scheme of the work – aggressiveness, exalted harsh vocals, ubiquitous piano – will require several attentive listens before revealing all their secrets. Wild beasts need some time, and patience, to be properly tamed.

Being the first Misanthrope album which met a real success, first and foremost in its home country but also, timidly, internationally, Visionnaire has been sometimes held as the band's masterpiece. That's, however, disputable; and the reason is as simple as a single word: songwriting. After the overall mess their early recordings were, there was no way Philippe / S.A.S de l'Argilière and Moréac his henchman would turn overnight into tight songwriters, even after a crucial line-up change and the arrival of guitarist-composer Jean-Baptiste Boitel. To every moment of genuine grace, is likely to answer a corresponding moment of mere filling, or, worded differently, of "we don't know how to write this bridge, so let's just all together randomly strum our instruments for ten seconds". Some pieces even turn right back to the good ol' "throw everything in and shake" vibe, with La Dandy pushing it to the extreme. Let's also admit that the delirious orchestral keyboard loops, as essential to the mood as they are, start sounding a tad predictable once the novelty has worn off, so one may prefer the simpler, less showy bits.

No doubt that in the French scene of those days, such a sound had never been heard before. Still, what some may call unbound creativity, some others may rather see as songwriting weaknesses and lack of focus, betraying musicians who were yet searching for their true identity. Experimental, or not experimental. Brutal, or not brutal. Swedish, or not Swedish.

Highlights: Bâtisseur de cathédrales, Hands of the Puppeteer, Visionnaire.

Ah, misanthrope. What a weird band. Content to toil in the underground since the early 90s, doing their thing, sometimes skirting close to metal trends but somehow never really adopting them. They are a bunch of highly skilled musicians who can and do try almost anything, and as a result, some of their music is just too eccentric for all but the weirdest, and probably mostly French, audience to swallow. Whenever I feel like indulging in some of their music, I am always left with the sense that I ought to give them credit for at least always managing to be interesting, even if some of what they do feels like an experiment that doesn't quite come off.

Granted, their most eccentric days were their early ones, as reviews here and elsewhere will tell you, but this is a character that has remained with them all throughout their career, even if they settled down somewhat. Arguably it was Visionnaire which marked a sort of streamlining of their approach. Plenty of eccentricity's still in evidence, but here it's delivered with precision and punch, and while I have some small reservations, most of this thing comes off with such style and panache that I can't help but be impressed.

Now, this is already the Frenchmen's fourth album, and to account for some of what's happened to them here, I think it's important to take it in context. It was 1997, and Swedish melodic death metal had kind of taken off in the underground. Not only does Misanthrope frontman Phillipe Courtois wear a Dark Tranquillity shirt, but you can find In Flames’ lead guitarist and singer in the credits as guest musicians! I was, myself, quite a fan of Dark Tranquillity at that time, and while in Flames didn't move me too much, they were suddenly nothing like the abomination they have now been for years. It's perfectly understandable that, in a scene like this, which was, then, still undeniably quite underground, the guys in Misanthrope and In Flames would have corresponded and even worked together on occasion. This Misanthrope album doesn't really sound like Swedish "melodeath", but the awareness and obvious respect for the style is certainly present. You can take this as a warning, I suppose, if the words "Swedish melodic death" are anathema to you, but I still think this is different and quirky enough to appeal to those who drop off to sleep at the mention of a Jester Race.

So, the production here is really solid and, as with most Fredman jobs, favours the guitars, which have a nice, full-bodied, heavy 'n' crunchy tone. There's some Swedish guy credited with percussion, but the drums still sound a bit fake to me, but hey, at least they're not as terrible as they sounded on the previous Misanthrope album; it's mostly ok and not distracting. I find the extraordinary, virtuoso bass-work of Jean-Jacques Moréac to be a bit buried in the mix at times, but this could be a deliberate choice by the band, who perhaps didn't want to suggest that they were showing off the fact that their bassist can really play. His style might be a bit too slap-happy for a lot of metalheads, and anyway, it punches through pretty loud and clear at least some of the time, and for sure, if you wear headphones, you won't miss much.

I find that misanthrope is at their best when they turn up the intensity or weirdness, and so opener "2,666" doesn't actually do loads for me. It's a bit too straightforward, and while I must credit it with being a bit ahead of its time, what it really reminds me of is some of the boring mid-paced stuff Dark Tranquillity does in the 2000s, and that's not a good thing. The keys are more prominent here than in many of the album's tracks, and I don't have a problem with that, but again, it's just a bit too ho-hum. Maybe it's going for "anthemic", but to me at least, misanthrope have probably chosen the worst song on the album as its opener, at least for my re-release version. Why'd they change the order? Whatever the case, it's definitely for the worse, as "Future Futile" is a much cooler song, only I suppose it's less "immediate" of an opener. Still, I think "2,666" sets a bit of a false expectation for what's to come. Stick around! Even if you feel as I do, there's a lot of interesting stuff to come. For me, the improvement with "Bâtisseur de cathédrales" is astronomical. Here we get lots of interesting melody and unpredictable riff changes. Misanthrope are at their best when being unpredictable, and so this song is a real stand-out.

The vocals run the gamut from weird screechy exhortations to deep growls to a kind of emotional semi-melodic groaning which sounds terrible on paper but somehow works (think Roz Williams, I guess), and they all work beautifully to tell these odd narratives of twisted decadence, depravity and fantastic beauty. I really think the band's lyrical/imagery approach is quite original, and yes, it's very French. I'm reminded of Baudelaire, Mirbeau, Lautréamont and, naturelment, Le Marquis de Sade. This is a constant in Misanthrope's work, and while my French isn't great, from what I can tell, the lyrics are clever, provocative and very true to the era(s) they seek to invoke.

I think the wild-sounding, fast death metal songs here are among my favourites. They're certainly not standard. The keyboards can be quite dark and intense, for instance, and the guitar-work just insane, including some really noisy, crazed soloing. "Irrévérencieux", at least, is absolutely fucking nuts, and totally should negate any idea one might have about Misanthrope falling into wimpy "melodeath" territory. At the same time, the use of keyboards here is quite novel; that recurring weird melody played on a moog-type sound is really out-of-this-world, and the banging piano hits quite cacophonous in a way that you just don't hear from most bands, but actually works perfectly in a death metal context.

I can't deny the power of some of the slower material, either. Although it's not very heavy, I genuinely love the reflective closing track and think it shows some of the band's sombr,e thoughtful use of melody in the very best way. "Impermanence et illumination" has a nice unusual structure and morphs between some pretty technical guitars and slow ominous chords mixed with airy keyboard passages. "La Dandy" first seems like a very odd name and concept for a death metal song, but when you hear those slow pounding riffs that are suggestive of some kind of decadent evil, you might come round to a different way of thinking. On the other hand, I can't say I care for those almost dance breaks with all the bass and keyboard noodling in "Hands of the Puppeteers" -- they seem really out of place and don't really convey anything but goofiness. I can write the last off as one of misanthrope's quirky antics. In the end, I think they're only out to please themselves, and make music that they find interesting, and that's something to be commended.

here's a band that I can really respect for putting a lot of care and detail into their work, in the musical sense, but also the over-all presentation. Not only do they have a unique sound, but nobody really looks or talks like them, either. It captures the attention, and I think all of it contributes to the fact that the band is, whatever else, never dull, and always challenging.

Holy shit...just when you thought that Misanthrope would toil in obscurity and eccentricity foreve, they score a total victory on Visionaire. In part it's due to having proper production (which somewhat hampered 1666), and in part it's probably due to the band having a stable line-up. Whatever it is, it work and it works amazingly.

Overall, you could probably say that this album combines the best of melodic death metal, and combines it seemlessly with jazz fusion and possibly even electronica. Philippe Courtois is still on here, penning bizarre, highly poetic and intelligent lyrics (best in French, I must say), and lending his absolutely unique vocals all over everything.

The whole album is such a smorgasbard of different styles, that it's nearly impossible to dissect it track by track. "Future Futile" is a bit of a straight ahead song with a nice melodies, and "Hypochondrium Forces" is an eccentric and anthemic tune complete with a nearly sing-along chorus. Jesper Stromblad has a solo at the end, sounding just like he does in In Flames. "Bâtisseur de Cathédrale" is just raging, with a ton of cool little bass fills and keyboards used very effectively to provide an oppressive atmosphere. This track also goes through a number of different tempos, but never loses the listener. Easily my second favourite on here.

"Le Silence des Grottes" is a metaphorical song about exploring caves, but is pretty much straight up death metal, complete with absolutely twisted solos of the Vader/Morbid Angel variety. The keys on here are maddening, tearing at your sanity as the guitars, bass, and drums hammer at your relentlessly. It breaks down in the middle into a more atmospheric, doomy part with Philippe using his "weepy" vocal style, but this is all done with pure class. Probably my favourite song on here, and is only matched by the ferocious "Irrévérencieux" in terms of speed and aggresion.

"La Dandy" is a gloomy, dreary tune, somewhat uninteresting when compared to the other songs around it. "2666" and "La Rencontre Rêvée" are very atmospheric, complete with a lot of clean guitars, warm bass lines, and haunting, bizarre keyboard work. Lovely stuff, but as far as them having beautiful sounds, there is an equal amount of grotesqueness underlying them, like a beautiful woman with some sort of hideous deformity, or even mental illness.

The title track features an excellent Cliff Burton-esque distorted bass solo, and more creepy keyboard playing. It's rather plodding, but almost like an afterthought to end the album on a pretty eccentric, fading note.

Everything about this album is perfectly presented. Studio Fredman perfectly captures the band's sound, not making it sound Swedish in any way, and probably helping them refine their approach to keep it eccentric but very focused. Even the fucking packaging on here is marvellous! I could bitch about maybe the drum sound not being heavy enough, but that's the ONLY thing I could rip on.

All the musicians deserve the highest praise, most notably Sergio Gruz with his very tasteful and innovative use of keys, and Jean-Jacques Moreac for his great bass playing. His smooth finger picking style is virtuoso in design, clearly presented and never too overbearing. He fits in alongside Steve Digiorgio, Roger Patterson, and Tony Choy in the realms of death metal bassists. If you are a bassist, you simply have to hear this album.

Totally unique album, both on its own and in Misanthrope's career. They hit the peak here, and never returned.

Good god, now this is a leap forward ! This is the album that got me hooked on Misanthrope. After an innovative but somewhat lackluster "1666...", the band returns with full force ! The band sees the welcomed addition of Jean-Baptiste Boitel on the guitars. His guitar work really add a new dimension to the band, and there's no doubt he was a driving force behind the writing on this record.

Another high point is the production. Misanthrope got some help from long-time friends In Flames, and finally recorded in a decent studio (namely the Friedman). Don't worry though, this doesn't mean Misanthrope turned into a swedish melodic death metal band ! "Visionnaire" picks up where "1666..." left off. The songs still have that baroque feel, but are more focused. Each part of the songs fit together well, and don't have that disorganized feeling they had on "1666...".

Musically, the band remains the same. The song writing got better, and Misanthrope dropped that "elitist" schtick that plagued "1666...". They also lean towards a more extreme style, with songs like "Le Silence des Grottes" or "Irrévérencieux" being almost black metal. Songs like "Futur Futile", "Hyponchondrium Forces" and "Bâtisseur de Cathédrales" are more mainstream, but fully demonstrate both the skills of the band and the way following albums were to take.

Songs are once again driven by Moréac's amazing bass playing, and S.A.S. growling and weeping. Boitel's guitar work alternates from death / black riffs to more eloquent riffs and patterns close to early Dark Tranquillity. Keyboards are mainly used as a background element, like a shroud giving the record a slight gothic feel. Unfortunately, S.A.S. still sings sometimes in english, and hasn't done anything to improve his accent.

To sum it up, this is the album I would recommend to anyone who wants to discover Misanthrope. The fans of extreme music should enjoy this very much.