No artist credited 🙁

Style: Traditional Doom Metal, Black Metal (Mixed Vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Celtic Frost, Pentagram, Darkthrone
Country: France
Release date: 27 March 2026

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Where one enters a band’s discography has a lot to do with shaping our preferences—a fairly obvious remark, I know, but it bears mentioning for this anecdote. My introduction to Darkthrone was Eternal Hails……(2021). Because of that, I developed a fondness for their slower, melodramatic, somewhat kitschy fusion of doom and heavy metal, an appreciation that enabled me to enjoy both Astral Fortress (2022) and It Beckons Us All…… (2024). And while I’ve developed a fascination with the band’s oeuvre (and enjoyed their preceding material in the process), I’ve always returned to their modern output above all else, regardless of the general consensus around their work.

All this is to say that when I hear Darkthrone mentioned, my mind immediately associates with their more recent work than any of the black metal albums which made them genre legends. So, when French quintet Dionysiaque crossed my radar carrying Darkthrone as a FFO, I was curious. Coming from the bizarro bazaar that is I, Voidhanger Records, one learns to expect the unexpected; that despite being labeled simply “traditional doom metal” on RYM, sophomore record La Tourbe des Rêves would most likely involve something a tad more unconventional. Boasting proudly anti-fascist leanings and an intriguing narrative thread exploring the many evocations of death across various points in our collective history—from a US Marine who self-immolated in protest of genocide to the brutal class warfare which led to the slaughter of Parisian commoners at the hands of the bourgeoisie in 1871—Dionysiaque look poised to deliver something grandiose and graven all the same. But a gripping promo is not guaranteed to beget a gripping presentation. Do these freaky Frenchmen have the gusto to make good on their words?

Following in the footsteps of the Norse Cavemen¹ themselves, Dionysiaque recorded La Tourbe des Rêves live—and in one week. One could reasonably expect that such a time constraint might lead to a compromise in quality, but remarkably, the album sounds not only cohesive but full-bodied. T.H.’s drums are punchy and rustic, devoid of the often identity-sapping homogeny that comes with over-produced or programmed drums. They pair nicely against L.V.L.’s jangling bass. The guitars are crunchy in that sublime ye-olde-heavy-metal way, L.B. and B.P. conjuring big doomy riffs garnished with classic metal zest. Meanwhile, vocalist N.C.’s operatic baritone fills the negative space with surprising alacrity, even if the initial delivery feels like something of a jump scare. The way he shifts his cleans into aggrieved howls and bellows is a treat, and more often than not his diverse approach slots nicely into the band’s swaggering blend of black metal, doom, and even the occasional surfer rock-indebted section (“La Commune Ou La Mort”).

Despite the album’s melancholic and often morbid themes, there’s a sense of adventure and hope peppered throughout—a bit of that indomitable rock-n-roll spirit. Present in cuts like the late-game instrumental section of “Aaron”, which shifts from moody to almost hopeful as clean, harmonized guitars ebb and swell around the lively percussion. Or the riotous solo briefly shredding the song’s three-quarter mark. “Accabadora” and “Hate Fruit” sport an almost Lucifer-ian swagger, driven by grooving riffs and that 70s revivalist, occult rock vibe. The Western-coded strumming and power metal harmonies that define the midsection of “Hate Fruit” might sound like odd inclusions, yet Dionysiaque’s smart songwriting and clever transitions ensure that such additions pay off. Returning musical motifs ensure cohesion within songs, even as they shift and evolve. There’s an economy at work across La Tourbe des Rêves, a musical propulsion that doom metal bands can often forsake. Dionysiaque have a good ear for how long to draw a riff out, when to inject a stylistic shift, and, most importantly, how to integrate it all together. The result: a clutch of broody hard-rocking tracks whose morbid underpinnings won’t stop you lurching the ol’ brain-case.

However, La Tourbe des Rêves, and Dionysiaque in general, have one pitfall, and that is N.C.’s vocals. His baritone cleans are big and theatrical and work for the style, but occasionally he descends into (surely unintended) comedic depths, like on “The Two-Headed Boy” as he yells “now it’s time for the triiiiiiaaaal / time to paaaay for his criiime”, where his voice feels strained in maintaining the delivery. For some, N.C.’s approach won’t work at all, and I could see plenty being turned away by his unabashed bombast, writing it off as corny or too much. Mileage may vary and all that. However, if one can move past the potentially deal-breaking cleans, I think they’ll find the big, riffy doom and heavy metal gravitas awaiting them to be more than equitable recompense for any slights. Dionysiaque take death—an often disheartening topic—and turn it into one of profundity by shooting it through a prism of real-world events, exploring its application under facets of retribution, punishment, protest, et cetera, while filling in the negative spaces with music defined by its vitality as much as solemnity.

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Recommended tracks: Aaron, Hate Fruit, La Vierge Noire
You may also like: Reverend Bizarre, Solitude Aeturnus, Pilgrim
Final verdict: 7/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram

Label: I, Voidhanger Records

Dionysiaque is:
– L.B. (Six Strings of Delusion, Desperate Singalongs)
– B.P. (Six More Strings of the Void, Choir of Mania)
– L.V.L. (Four Pillars of the Underworld, Mumblings of Anger)
– T.H. (Beater of Skings from the Depths of your Chest to the Heights of your Mind)
– N.C. (Scandals and Agitation)

1. As Darkthrone are referenced here. ↩︎