Hailing from Montreal, Quebec comes the debut of Conifère, a raw and melodic black metal act with a triumphant debut titled L’Impôt du Sang, or The Blood Tax in English. This is an instant classic and a breath of fresh air that cuts through the sea of unimaginative raw black metal albums that seem to blend into one another in a haze of colorless joy. Conifère cuts through all that with their colorfully unique sound that is dripping with melodic hatred that kind of brings me back to old melodic classics like Grand Belial’s Key, Forgotten Woods, and a little bit of Black Funeral all mixed in this riff filled package.
The album begins with an epic intro, with an epic and raw guitar melody accompanied with a sample from a beautiful poem written and recited by famed French poet Paul Éluard, capturing a powerful image of love and freedom, something that this album holds within its sound down to the very core. The guitar riffs drip with this epic determination and have this freeing sense of fortitude that is only emphasized by how powerful the growling vocals feel. To me, this album is such an incredibly easy listen because of how well made and competent it is. Its so easy to find your self coming back over and over again and finding more details in the layers of rich sound that the band is able to deliver near flawlessly. The guitars, drums, bass, vocals, all of it play with each other very well, with not one dominating over another and capturing that cold, triumphant victory that this album portrays.
With the help of friend translating this album the lyrical themes all through out are very deep and well written, and done in such a beautiful way that I think only adds more layers to this already beautifully dense album. With themes of how cold and cruel nature can be, to the triumphant idea of conquering lands and becoming truly free, all that lies within the lyrics fit so perfect with the backing instrumentation. And all of these lyrics, performed through such harsh yet cold vocals, that sound like the last desperate pleas of a dying man. A haunting, yet fitting approach. Each track is an epic chapter in a grim tale of those brave settlers who came to modern day Quebec and had to pay L’Impôt du Sang to stay.
This is what I think the perfect debut album is. Its straight to the point, well made with plenty of heart and emotion put behind it and a competent band that clearly puts effort and care into their craft. Their sound is colorful and vibrant while still being cold, grim, and very cut throat. No gimmicks are needed here and there’s plenty of bite to back up the bark of this album. It deserves all the praise that the underground has been granting it, and should be a must listen to those who haven’t dared to stare these wolves in the face.