French epic, old-school metal of the highest order! France's Meurtrières emerge with Ronde De Nuit, their first full-length. Stocked with seven songs of hard-charging, energetic old-school metal, Meurtrières shows they are one of French metal's most promising young bands. Lyon, France's Meurtrières has not strayed far from their original goal of writing old-school, epic heavy metal with medieval overtones on their newest effort, Ronde De Nuit. If anything, the band has taken what they started on their well-received 2020 self-titled EP and added new layers of complexity and depth. It is the natural transition for a band gaining more confidence in its songwriting abilities. Yet the noticeable change starts in the vocal spot. Out is the original frontwoman Fleur and in her place is Fiona. Meurtrières wasted little time introducing Fiona, and she fits the band's hard-charging, gallant music like a glove, coming away with a stronghold of fiery, epic choruses -- all sung in the Meurtrières' native tongue. The lyrical subject matter on Ronde De Nuit still spans the medieval domain but with increased emphasis on paintings by Rembrandt (The Night Watch) and Johann Heinrich (Füssli). The band aimed to make the songs pictorial, reflecting imaginary portraits to draw in the listener. Except for Aucun Homme, Aucun Dogme, Aucune Croix (which is a known French medieval legend about a real woman), the songs on Ronde De Nuit are based on fantasy with a desired fate: All the depicted characters are doomed to tragedy, for in the world of Meurtrières, there is no such thing as crowned kings and queens and even glorious warriors. Artwork by Ivan Brun rounds out a package that perfectly ties in thematically with the desperate and dark themes of the lyrics. It is a fitting component to an album laced with stunning visuals and epic, old-school metal of the highest order!
