CAUCHEMAR - Tenebrario (2013)

Genre(s): Heavy metal/Doom Metal

Label: Nuclear War Now Productions

Rating: 8/10

I first encountered Montréal`s Cauchemar with their demo, La vierge noire. It was a very promising demo, reminiscent of Witchfinder General and Iron Maiden. After touring and some time off, they recorded this excellent album, their debut, Tenebrario.

The first track, "D'encre et de sang," catches the attention right away. The chorus is as infectious as the common cold. Singer Annick Giroux's vocals are clear enough that I do not know if one even needs to know French to sing "D'ENNNNNNNNNNCRE ET DE SANGGGGGGG." Track two is a doomy number, entitled "Le feu du soleil." The chorus absolutely rules. Again one is forced to sing along to the chorus. The guitar riff is perfectly hellish. A bridge conveying despair unfolds after that, and then snaps cleanly back into the verse riff, impressively clean is the transition. On "Salamandre," it detours back into heavy metal land, but there is nary a complaint here. It's great, bang-your-fucking-head metal. Sometimes one just needs that; if you do, this is your band.

"Tête de mort" is a wonderful fusion of heavy metal and doom. "L'appel" has more headbang-worthy riffs in it, and I think better vocal sections. It's also more of a heavy metal number. "Le fantôme" is certainly a rocking tune, and one of my favourites off Tenebrario. The verse vocals are eminently singable, assuming you have a good voice. The guitar is pretty quick paced. Tabarnak! "Rites Lunaires"'s verse riff is killer and ultimately memorable. Track eight, "Trois mondes," reverts back to the doomy sound in the beginning, and has a wicked riff to support that. During the chorus, the mood lightens a bit, but the intro/verse riff is what makes this song. After the second chorus comes a guitar solo; nothing too technical, but I think that's a good thing. It's tasteful. This leads to another dark riff that leads you to believe you're going to leave this by hearse. Of course, organ kicks in, further lending to the doomy feel. EXEUNT. The closer to the album, "Tenbrario", the title track, starts off with acoustic guitar and a bell. It features some of Giroux's most beautiful vocals, sung in a higher register than the rest of the album. The acoustic guitar parts feature some beautiful, touching parts. The bell rings with much greater frequency and all fades out.

All of the performances on this album are fantastic. The guitar tone is exquisite; so crunchy, and I am in love with this. Giroux's vocals never falter and receive an A+ for her performance on this album. The drums have great tone; they're tuned just right, especially the snare, which is nice and snappy. The bass parts are interesting and don't just play the guitar an octave lower. All this said, I still prefer La vierge noire to this; I don't intend to slight Tenebrario, it's just that the demo holds a special place in my heart. I urge you to pick up this album. I typically dislike heavy metal or anything that reminds me of Iron Maiden, like their demo did, but this is a great album and not to be missed. If you wish to listen to it digitally, you can purchase it at their Bandcamp as well as La vierge noire. Vinyl, including a die-hard edition, may be purchased through Nuclear War Now Productions; NWN Prod. is also selling it on CD.