Belgian duo Doodseskader haven't played too many gigs in France yet, but they're gradually gaining a (well-deserved) reputation as a must-see band with their raging mix of indus, rap, grunge, hardcore, sludge and just about anything else that can express tempestuous emotion in a thunderous way, as confirmed by their recent impressive second album Year Two (review). Despite a rather quiet date (the Parisians are already off conquering the world's beaches or recovering between festivals), the Point Éphémère fills up as the evening gets ready to kick off with Verset Zero, another well-kept secret worth discovering.
VERSET ZERO
An altar, flowers, candles, a chalice (we hope for his sake that it's not red wine from Point Éphémère in it, ugh, what the hell!), Iron Crosses on banners: the décor, both mystical and totalitarian, sets the tone. We're not here for laughs. If we've already said several times what we think of Verset Zero's music, we're once again struck by its power and effectiveness. Hidden behind a black veil, the artist screams, rants and threatens like someone possessed. His blend of hypnotic, repetitive industrial loops and opaque blackness of extreme metal evokes a religious rite, an obscure spell or a dreamlike trance, a nightmarish theatre where the shadows of the great figures of black metal follow one another, as well as other artists with a penchant for very heavy machines (Author & Punisher, Trepaneringsritualen, Mütterlein...).
That's Verset Zero's great strength: it manages to mix genres in such an organic and visceral way that gives the music its monolithic, monumental feel, but also its singularity. Metalheads may find it too synthetic. Industrial fans will probably find it too metal. Too bad for them, so much the better for those who embrace this unique balancing act that Verset Zero looks set to add to time and time again: the end of the set with Les Horizons Mélancoliques, written with Perturbator and immediately more breathable (we wouldn't dare say danceable), then new tracks with trap rhythms confirm that Verset Zero have no intention of slavishly confining themselves to one genre, and that rather than becoming slaves to an overly narrow label, they intend to continue devouring all the music they love with a vengeance. This is a project that will continue to fascinate us and the performance, theatrical and embodied, was once again gripping.
DOODSESKADER
Two guys, one bass, one drum. It's a tried and tested set-up, and putting the drums so far forward is often a harbinger of a big, thumping sound. Doodseskader's rhythms may not be technically virtuoso, but they are the wild, beating heart of this project, imposing their anguish and anger. Sigfried Burroughs, from noise-rock band The K, may look like a well-balanced guy, but he packs a punch like a maniac. Alongside him, Tim de Gieter, also bassist with Amenra, lets all the negative emotions of the music explode. He grimaces, frowns and shuffles around the stage, ready to fight, as intense as ever. As well as providing the show, the screen behind the duo completes the set-up, projecting extracts of text or intriguing images.
Here again, we're treated to music that's free of rules and limitations: creativity can express itself, go astray, explode and spring forth with every howl, every soothing vocal line, every word chanted between two impacts on the drums. Whatever the genre, whatever the codes, Doodseskader is strong. It's the kind of storm that grabs you by the guts and blasts you out onto the pavement, only to trample you underfoot. It's radical and bizarre, but it's also immediately unifying thanks to its universal appeal, both in the emotions spat in our faces and in the seismic rhythms. The icing on the cake is Tim de Gieter's warm and numerous speeches and thanks, touching in his simplicity and sincerity in a role that's more talkative and closer to the audience than with Amenra. We're here because of them, they're here because of us, it doesn't matter, the important thing is that we were all there at the same time, because if we'd missed each other, we'd have looked smart. The evening, a cathartic melting-pot of influences, was as furious as it was magnificent: here are two projects that run roughshod over preconceived ideas, that exude a genuine desire to create without obeying, without redoing what's already been done, and that do so with a visceral authenticity. We want more!
