Have you ever seen a storm roll in over a lake? Even better, one rolling in over a lake at sunset? Seeing a wall of pouring drops appear on the other side of a body of water and watching it roll toward you is such a wonderful experience. Add in sunset colors that burst in new blends with the mix of moisture in the air and you’re really getting to something. You’ll experience a fascinating blend of nature’s violence and calm within a striking balance of brilliant light and potentially pitch-black dark. Hanternoz’s approach to writing black metal is much the same. In fact, my most recent listen to its third album provided the perfect soundtrack for seeing blue skies and sun across the street from my house while branches and plants bent eastward in the winds of a storm and raindrops splashed my windows.
While the overall album strives to help you find the glimmer of light through a violent cumulonimbus cloud, Hanternoz hasn’t forgotten the roots of their black metal. “La lessive des trépassés” doles out a killer Satyricon riff that will make you bang your head. The drums on “Le Diable de Quimper-Corentin” are absolutely on FIRE for the first half and much of the song proffers a Moonsorrow-style subdued jauntiness. “La peste à Limoges” slows things down to start, allowing the bass to bop along and drive the track, but then closes on hypnotic repetition that lets you fall into the trance of the storm. Hell, the closer “Quand j’ai tué le roi de la forêt” remembered that all of heavy metal started with the song “Black Sabbath” and lets the doom ooze into the opening. But, all along the way, there is always something pulling songs out of the murk toward the heavens. That doesn’t even mention the brief flute- and bagpipe-laden instrumental that is “Pe Trouz War an Douar.”
A Hed an Noz, a Noz, a Noz does a fantastic job of making its more sorrowful moments feel positive. “La lessive des trépassés” has some haunting, layered cleans that should feel ominous but instead come across like the whispers of your own ancestors trying to pass down key tales that will help you through the next leg of your journey. “Le diable de Quimper – Corentin” has a clean passage in the middle that yields to a somber but hopeful close. Despite opener “Sur le chemin des fées” creating a maelstrom that would make you nervous about the longevity of your shingles, it still shines through with a spirit of triumph.
Havukruunu feels triumphant because of its gallop, while a band like Black Fucking Cancer funnels hostility to its audience through instrumental violence. Hanternoz manages to package both together in a different way. The music feels triumphant without galloping Maidenisms. The drums and guitars are still violent in their blasting nature, but they do so without feeling hostile. The battle that’s being won is fighting through the murk to get back to where you want to be. There’s an aspirational nature to what’s put together.
So, when it smells like rain or your old-ass knee is aching from a pending storm, find a spot to post up, put your headphones on, and let Hanternoz wash over you as the rains do the same.
