Gris is a depressive black metal band from Quebec. They formed back in 2004 under the name Niflheim and released a full-length called Neurasthenie in 2006. They changed their name to Gris shortly thereafter and later re-released this album complete with different artwork. Let's see if it hold up, shall we?
One thing I really like is the clean guitar and the bass on the first track. They create such a beautiful and morose atmosphere. Another thing I noticed is how the clean guitars at the beginning of the song “The Cold Wind Of My Breath Is Always Blowing” reminds me of the Grimlair song “Alone”. In short, these guys are great at playing melancholic clean guitars. As for the black metal part of the album, it doesn't impress me all that much. The distortion sounds like a buzzsaw. This might be good if you're playing at a higher tempo, but these guys like to play slow, which means the distortion doesn't fit all that well. If you ask me, this album would have sounded a lot better if it had a foggier distortion similar to Xasthur.
As for the instrumentation, it's not all that bad. The pace is slow and plodding, as though you're walking through an empty, snow-draped forest at night. The drums mainly stick to simple beats, as well as certain moments where the drums play only one beat every six seconds, such as on “Lueur D'ombre”. The tortured rasps are heavily distorted and indecipherable. I really enjoyed their performance as they reminded me of Xasthur. The guitars, like those in all other depressive black metal bands, pay tribute to Burzum. They're minimalistic and slow, but they also have a slight touch of melody to them. I especially like the little solo they did on the song “Where So Many Tombs Were Forgotten”.
Overall, the instrumental and vocal performances were great, but the weak distortion kept me from enjoying it. Luckily, Gris got much better after this.
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