Album Review: Diktatur – La Voie Du Sang (Melancholia Records)

This re-issue from French black metal band Diktatur, is called La Voie Du Sang & it will be released on August 15th 2017 via Melancholia Records.

The story behind this reissue is an interesting one. Originally released in 2010, the band turned all their focus onto their second album. However according to Vocalist and guitarist Aizko, the band weren’t ready to deal with a second record resulting in internal issues.

The debut album wasnt promoted & was quickly forgotten about. To make matters worse, they band never did release their second album either! 7 years later & the band are ready to get their music out there. This re-release includes remastered tracks, a re-ordering of the songs & two bonus ones from the second album that never came out.

With the first few songs you’ll be feeling a serious sense of gratitude that Dikatur have gone for this reissue. Foudroyé, L’Hymne à La Guerre & Révélation are seriously good slabs of black metal. Blending old-school black metal riffs & hooks but it having a modern snarl gives La Voie Du Sang a unique sound.

The latter of the three is particularly strong thanks to the rhythmic riffs & nasty bile-inducing vocals.

The longer the album goes on (it’s a long one too) the better it sounds. The black metal on show here is inspiringly grim stuff but with few breaks for you to take a breather. Once such moment comes about the halfway point, aptly named ‘Interlude’. A short stormy sounding piece, but with an stompy drum beat. It’s like a march that leads into the war that is Valse Macabre. Brutally heavy, it has nothing but contempt for your ears.

The album titled track, La Voie Du Sang lays down a bit more doom as the drum beat carves a hole in the Earth & the guitars spit fire. The main bulk of the album finishes on one final flurry, the pure black metal aggressive & lengthy finale that is Revanche. If this is what Hell sounds like we’re all going to want to end up there!

The first thing you’ll notice about the two bonus tracks is the increase in ambience. The second is just how raw they sound in comparison to the ten tracks that came from it. Oozing primal energy with more traditional metal riffs but still with an unmistakable blackened edge, they’re a really welcome addition to an album that is incredibly satisfying.

Diktatur – La Voie Du Sang Full Track Listing:

1. Foudroyé
2. L’Hymne à La Guerre
3. Révélation
4. Dernier Soupir
5. Légions
6. Larmes de Tranchées
7. Interlude
8. Valse Macabre
9. La Voie Du Sang
10. Revanche
11. L’Etendard Glorieux (Bonus Track)
12. Les Oubliés (Bonus Track)

Head over to Bandcamp to pick up Revanche free & order the album through Melancholia Records website. You can find out more about Diktatur on their website, on Facebook, on Instagram & on Google+. You can listen to some of their music on YouTube & SoundCloud.