Aldaaron is yet another example of France’s ability to produce excellent black metal bands seemingly out of nowhere. Hailing from Grenoble in southeastern France near the French alps, Aldaaron mostly adheres to a formula that numerous other bands like Dissection or Belenos have used with much success, but instead of focusing on darkness or outright aggression, debut album Nous Reviendrons Immortels is infused with a melancholic sense of melody and a certain spiritual feel that differentiates it somewhat from other bands playing this style.

Icy melodic tremolo riffing and rapid-fire double bass drumming make up most of the album’s running time, but the band seems to know exactly when to break up the pace with a well-placed clean guitar interlude or half-time passage, so the music rarely gets boring. While nothing on Nous Reviendrons Immortels is particularly groundbreaking, it contains a good balance of furious black metal and softer fare, with some nice touches like echoing spoken word vocals occasionally thrown in to enhance the atmosphere.

All of the tracks were pretty consistently good, but ‘Royaume’ and the evocative ‘En Route Vers La Bataille’ were definite highlights for me. For a debut album, I found Nous Reviendrons Immortels quite impressive. If you’re a fan of cold, melodic black metal then it might be worth trying to chase down a copy of this album.

» Buy Nous Reviendrons Immortels from The End Records