Review: Zéro Absolu – La Saignée

Cover art:  Neseblod Records (formerly Helvete), April 2024, by Grete Neseblod¹

Style: Black Metal, Blackgaze, Post-Metal (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Alcest, Harakiri for the Sky, Ghost Bath
Country: France
Release date: 31 January 2025

Because of black metal’s diabolical origins, I am always surprised by how much the genre has expanded beyond its purest form. While many newer acts in the scene still adhere to the corpse-painted, low-fidelity, satanic, musical chromaticism of the old guard, several branches have been grafted onto the deciduous black metal tree. Though still a stark and imposing sight at night, in the light of day you can see its colorful flora, fruit, and many shades of green leaves. I’m honestly grateful for this because even though I enjoy many aspects of traditional black metal, the genre didn’t click with me when we were first introduced in my youth. Even today, I can’t stomach it in large doses. Not the pure, uncut cocai—er, black metal at any rate. For every bit of Darkthrone I consume, I need an equal or greater amount of something in the vein of Numenorean or Obsequiae to take the edge off.

Enter La Saignée, the “debut” LP from France’s Zéro Absolu—the band formerly known as Glaciation. The name change was unfortunately a legal necessity since a member who was fired from the group (Nicolas Saint-Morand, aka RMS Hreidmarr) quickly ran to register the trademark and release an album under the name Glaciation. I can only wonder why the original members didn’t do this before releasing both an EP (1994, 2015) and an LP (Sur les falaises de marbre, 2020) under their original moniker. The Bandcamp page for La Saignée mentions that the lyrical themes “[confront] the enemies of the band and the metal scene in general.” Being a non-French speaker—but fluent in another romance language (Spanish), and having some real-world experience with yet another (Portuguese)—I didn’t need to fully rely on Google Translate to confirm this for me. Take this bit from the title track, for instance:

Oh, did I mention that Saint-Morand was purportedly fired over alcoholism issues? The lyrics in general are rife with the more colorful synonyms for urine and fecal matter, and evoke a passionate fury through their metaphors. Which, if you don’t understand French I don’t think you’d ever know, because the music itself—despite plenty of blast beats, distorted guitars, and almost entirely harsh vocals—for the most part is not angry. Made up almost entirely of traditional western minor keys and harmonies, the melodic components of La Saignée are more somber than seething, more lamentation than lambaste. Combine that with the healthy dose of structureless ambient post-metal (no verses or choruses are to be found here), and we’re sitting pretty on one of the recently grafted branches of the black metal tree.

La Saignée has two songs: the title track, which means “The Bloodletting,” and the closing track “Le Temps Détruit Tout” meaning “Time Destroys All.” The former is a twenty minute pilgrimage into the essence of Zéro Absolu—where sad chord progressions and arpeggios transition into tremolo picked indignation. A clean guitar interlude then carries you into my favorite bit of the song, where hypnotic synths accompany blast beats and anxiously strummed power chords that morph into an emotional release in half time; the guitars letting open chords ring while a xylophonic synth hovers in over the top of it all, lightly caressing the soundscape with a beauty that all but brings a tear to your eye. Thus is the magic of the daylight viewing of this genre’s tree. At this point, we are still in for twelve more minutes of the song.

Which brings me to my main gripe with La Saignée: the spoken word. On an album with two tracks that go for about half an hour, a few samples of monologues and dialogues (what their origin is I haven’t been able to discern) occur that take up a healthy chunk of the run time. The title track does this on more than one occasion. The closer does so right before an extended and repetitive synth-only section channeling Vangelis, which is honestly gorgeous, but goes on for about four minutes and wears out its welcome. These elements wouldn’t be a big deal—maybe hardly worth a mention—on an album pushing an hour, but on the shortest of LPs it’s glaring. Still, Zéro Absolu nurture the black metal tree with care. Other highlights include the second clean guitar interlude in the title track, with a descending arpeggiation and melody that remind me of Jeff Buckley of all people, and the chunky riff that closes out “Détruit” and its accompanying synth—an appropriate send off for La Saignée.

In the end, La Saignée sprouts greenery that belongs on black metal’s evolving tree. The esoteric ideas present on this release might break branches on other saplings, but the graft here is too strong to do more than bend the bough, this orchard’s sprout too deeply rooted for the drama surrounding Zéro Absolu to fell its trunk. The emotional and psychological release prepares the way for some hefty releases going forward: a bloodletting indeed.

Recommended tracks: Both of them
You may also like: Isleptonthemoon, Together to the Stars, Nishair
Final verdict: 7/10

Related links: Spotify

Label: Art of Propaganda – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

Zéro Absolu is:
V – Vocals, texts
HM – Guitars
FMD – Keys and arrangements
IS – Bass
RR – Drums

1. This photo is from the aftermath of a fire at Neseblod Records in Oslo, Norway; a well known record shop in the area. ↩︎