Review: Antichambre – A Light on the Screen

Style: Progressive Metal, Melodic Death Metal (Mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: old Leprous, Ihsahn, Between the Buried and Me
Country: France
Release date: 27 August 2024

So, how do we feel about the new Leprous, everyone? Don’t answer that, the comment section will be a warzone. I’m a defender of new Leprous (Pitfalls is my favourite from them), but they’re one of those “what might have been” bands where you can’t help but wonder what other directions they might’ve taken. It’s hard to believe that the off-kilter zaniness of their first two albums and the thunderous heft of tracks like “Contaminate Me” could belong to the same discography that contains Melodies of Atonement. 

Fortunately for the Leprous purists, the underground provides, and Leprous at their heaviest and proggiest were what I first thought of when I heard Antichambre’s debut album, A Light on the Screen. Frequent use of piano, rhythmically charged guitar parts with unusual chord choices, complex drumwork; all we need is an Einar, who comes in the form of main composer, guitarist and vocalist Elliot Pauveral who demonstrates strong range hitting Solbergian falsetto highs while refraining from belting “aaaaaAAAAAAaaaaahhh” all the time, but is most at home in a Morrissey-esque¹ register. His harshes meanwhile are thick and a little blackened, somewhat Ihsahn-esque, though they too have range beyond this, with more guttural death growls from time to time. 

And yet this is by no means mere Bilateral or Coal worship. There’s a vision here, an evolution; a much proggier sensibility for one thing, occasionally veering into Between the Buried and Me style chaos, as on “Blind and Damped” which also features some shockingly good vocal acrobatics, the clean guitars breaks, notably on “Breathe Holding” and “Ephemeris”, recall classic Opeth, and there’s a soupçon of Ihsahn in the nasty guitar tone and tremolo-ish riffs that feel corrupted by dissonance. A glut of extreme metal influences (and Morrissey) find their confluence here, organically repurposed to fit Antichambre’s style. In fact, the best comparison might be a full album of Einar/Ihsahn collabs but sprawling out into proggier territory than either of them tend towards.

The bass is nicely present and helps give that off-kilter sensibility as it complements and contrasts the rhythm guitar rather than merely following the same root notes. Such a little thing makes a big difference, and the whole album is mixed very nicely, far better than you’d expect for a debut in this style, giving the vocals the prominence they demand, not overdoing the drums (too many albums I’ve reviewed this year have done that). The drum work on this album also deserves some kudos, with some nasty fills on the relentless “Human’s Shape”.

The nineteen-minute epic “New Prelude” epitomises both Antichambre’s greatest strengths and weaknesses. By this point, A Light on the Screen’s density and commitment to constant evolution becomes a bit too much; through-composed works like this are always a challenge for the listener, but there nevertheless need to be moments that hook you along the way, checkpoints for the listener. Omnerod’s The Amnesal Rise last year was through-composed and ended up my album of the year; what it had in terms of those stick-with-you moments is what A Light on the Screen lacks for me. The album’s shorter tracks—“Human’s Shape” and “Ephemeris”—have a far more tangible sense of structure; that’s not to say Antichambre should give up on proggy excess, merely that it needs a little refining.

A Light on the Screen is dense and intense, in a way that both intrigues and, at times, intimidates, but it’s a surprisingly assured debut that builds on a familiar sound and runs with it into new territory. While the through-composition and general madcapness can be a lot to process, their precocial core sound has arrived fully formed. Antichambre aren’t a waste of air, a win for mediocrity or a painful detour²; they’ve avoided those pitfalls. 

Recommended tracks: Blind and Damped, Breathe Holding, Ephemeris
You may also like: Omnerod, Dissona, Apeiron Bound
Final verdict: 7.5/10

1. That’s not a bad thing, say what you want about Morrissey (seriously, say anything, he’s a dick, and I say that as someone who’s read his portentously-titled autobiography, Autobiography), but that man could sing.
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2. I know, I know, that joke isn’t funny anymore (stop me if you think you’ve heard this one before). ↩︎

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram | Metal-Archives page

Label: Independent

Antichambre is:
– Elliot Pauvarel (vocals, guitars, music and lyrics)
– David Gicquel (bass)
– Berivan Sart (piano)