Sublime Dementia

Of the Big Four of French thrash/death metal (Massacra, Agressor, No Return, Loudblast) I always found Loudblast the least exciting of the lot during the late-80’s/early-90’s. They neither possessed Massacra’s impetuous virtuosity, nor Agressor’s audacious hyper-active rifforamas, nor No Return’s sophisticated complexity. They were just run-of-the-mill thrash/death metal hybriders sounding like hundreds of other acts at the time. There was no way they were going to surprise the audience with anything out there… not them; no way.

“Disincarnate” (1991) wasn’t a total waste, as a matter of fact, seeing the band settling for a more moderate approach to the thrash/death metal blend unlike the very energetic exploits of the other three, turning the other way around, towards more pensive mid-paced quarters. They consolidated the impression with the “Cross the Threshold” EP which also included a very good cover of Slayer’s “Mandatory Suicide”, the ultimate mid-tempo thrashing hymn. However, what happened on the album reviewed here borders on the supernatural; it took me a while to be convinced that this was the same Loudblast, the average noisemongers who were destined to remain in the shadow of the other practitioners…

the only comparison I can make with the revelation witnessed here is with the one of the Germans Deathrow who, after two passable high-speed efforts, produced one of the most stunningly complex opuses in the annals of metal, “Deception Ignored”. Our French friends have achieved something very similar… very very similar. The moment the opener “Presumption” starts shredding with style to spare, with these heavy infernal gallops and the sudden time and tempo changes, the listener will throw all his/her presumptions out the window knowing that he/she will be experiencing a not very often encountered heads-down descent into the technical/progressive rabbit hole. “Wisdom (Father On)” is an atmospheric stomper with virtuous progressive accumulations and somewhat cleaner vocals that appear to assist the main mid-ranged death metal ones. “Turn the Scales” turns the scales towards speedier execution with more gallops served among blazing lead sections and twisted Pestilence-sque arrangements this cut very close to qualifying for “Testimony of the Ancients”. “About Solitude” is the acoustic intermission with angelic female vocals notching up the atmospheric undercurrents, after which comes “Subject to Spirit”, a progressive death metal masterpiece with complex mazey riff-formulas this amazingly achieved without a single fast-paced note; this is the retrospective side of the genre where a consistent, almost pensive delivery wins over any temptations for super-technical histrionics.

“Fire & Ice” follows the same pattern with more accentuated technical guitar work and with a jumpier rhythm-section not to mention the contrasting doomy finish. “In Perpetual Motion” continues moving forward with rolling technical riffage, an all-instrumental multi-layered extravaganza which opens the doors to “Fancies”, a steam-rolling piece with great melodic lead sections and more dramatic progressive build-ups ala mid-period Death. The title-track is an imposing doom metal opera hitting Cathedral-like fields before a more dynamic stroke brings back the death/thrash cannonade with full force. “My Last Journey” is indeed the last journey, a smattering technical masterpiece never betraying the established volcanic approach except for the next in line intricate galloping passage which is overtaken by the dazzling leads, turned into a fast-paced crescendo at the end.

The band outclassed all the competition in their homeland with ease with this totally unexpected exhibition of mastery. How could have one known that they had it in them… occult sources hint at some kind of illumination achieved at the very early stages, but the guys had decided to keep the magic for a later time when all the rivals had accumulated enough inertia; it was much more satisfactory to shoot the competition near the peak performance than in the spawning stages… well, the guys did it, creating a magnum opus to rank up there with the finest showings from acts like Pestilence, Atheist, Death and Gorguts. Again, this is a most unusual anti-brutal exposure to our favourite genre, one that may pull back the diehard fanbase who will be looking in vain for more aggressive blast, or at least proto-blast beating feats. There are none of the kind here, and yet this is a most alluring multi-faceted recording which will reveal itself with more nuances with each subsequent listen.

I had the nagging feeling that the band would never be able to produce such greatness again; this “sublime dementia” was too meticulously constructed for the guys to be able to reproduce it with the same attention to detail. The sad news is that the band never tried to come even close to the perfection of this recording; “Fragments” was a belated attempt to capture some of the 90’s groovy post-death craze to very confusing results which put an end to the band’s first creative period. After the reformation in 2002 things didn’t look much better with the shaky derivative “Planet Pandemonium” (2004) which flop caused another hiatus. Seven years later the guys gave themselves another chance, and “Frozen Moments Between Life & Death” finally hit the mark with more proficient musicianship and a more pronounced classic approach. “Burial Ground” (2014) wasn’t exactly a step forward, but at least wasn’t a disaster the band keeping themselves afloat amidst the fierce competition, until hopefully one day another blast of sublime elaborate tunes will befall the fans’ ears, and will make all the present Gorods, Korums, Outcasts, Dungorthebs and Dysmorphics sit down and listen with care.

It's a damn shame that Loudblast aren't remembered alongside Death, Pestilence and Morbid Angel, because what they created with Sublime Dementia is intelligent, well played and finely crafted death metal. In fact, this fits somewhere between Testimony of the Ancients and Human, both in terms of writing and overall sound.
"Presumption," "Subject to Spirit," "Wisdom Farther On" and "Fire and Ice" all have great riffing and lots of interesting ideas. "Turn the Scales" sounds like a thrash song with death metal vocals. Not bad, but I find it to be my least favorite song on the album. There are two instumentals: "About Solitude" and "In Perpetual Motion." "About Solitude" is actually pretty bad; it's a simple riff on acoustic with a female soprano and some tubular bells backing it up. I don't know, sure, it probably sounded really new and different at the time, but it sounds cheesey now. "Fancies" is a slower, weirder song with strange high notes playing some bizarre melody in the beginning. "Sublime Dementia" is the best song on here, with the great leads and technical and catchy riffs. "My Last Journey" has kind of an old school metal feel to it, and a sweet fucking lead break in the middle, perfectly closing off the album.
What makes this whole album really good is that it still has balls, despite the technical nature, much like Death's Human. Lots of more technical bands lose their lower end and end up sounding like needless noodling. Loudblast does not. Any melodies that pop up are very tasteful and not the cheesy pow(d)er puff metal stuff.
Hervé Coquerel really deserves special mention, because his fluid playing really helped Loudblast grow by leaps and bounds. Stéphane Buriez is still doing deathly vocals, somewhat between early Unleashed and Covenant-era Morbid Angel. That means clear, but nasty. The other great element is the leads, which are definately in the Chuck Schuldiner-style.
I just want to know: Why didn't these guys get remembered for this album?!