Album Review: Meurtrières – Ronde De Nuit (Gates of Hell Records)

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. Out on August 25th, 2023, via Gates of Hell Records.

Dust off that old leather and denim, get those neck muscles well and truly warmed up, and prepare yourself for a journey into the past. Meurtrières are here and they live and breathe heavy metal.

There’s no other way to put this, Ronde De Nuit is a straight-forward slice of old-school heavy metal. It features seven tracks of high-powered, hyperactive, riffy, and epic sounding metal. Where, if you didn’t know better, you could believe it came out in the heydays of the 80s.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing? That’s going to be dependant on how you feel about modern bands going for an old-school sound. At least in the case of Meurtrières, they’re bloody good at it and keep it nice and tight at around thirty-four-minutes overall.

By focusing on a grander sound and with elements of medieval fantasy weaved in, Meurtrières give their music just a hint of power too. It’s not power metal by any stretch but it’s there. Stuff that gives this album more life, even though Meurtrières’ overall heavy metal sound is brimming with energy.

It’s hard to say that there is much longevity in this but when it comes to straight-forward enjoyment, it certainly delivers plenty of fun in the moment. It also feels kind of rare to get something like this from a French band, which certainly helps make Meurtrières stand out.

Meurtrières – Ronde De Nuit Track Listing:

1. Rubicon
2. Aucun Homme, Aucun Dogme, Aucune Croix
3. Tempête & Naufrage
4. Ronde De Nuit
5. Alma Mater
6. Chevaleresses Du Chaos
7. La Revenante

Links

Bandcamp | Instagram