DEATH FRANCE – Hesperia

vote
6.5

• Bands:
  DEATH FRANCE
• Duration: 00:41:00
• Available from: 12/15/2025
• Label:

• Antiq Records

It is rare for Christian symbols to appear on the cover of a black metal album without implying a perversion, or at least a re-signification in a different context. The artwork of “Hesperia”, Morte France's second work, therefore does not go unnoticed: a handful of knights in chain mail disperse a cloud of devils, advancing with sure step behind a luminous cross. The focal point of the image is the chalice from which the light radiates, in an explicit reference to the sacrament of the Eucharist.
However, Christian iconography refers to something more layered than a simple religious intention. Morte France are in fact proud supporters of a radical conservatism with strong spiritualist and mystical connotations, standard bearer of the alleged 'deep roots' of Western culture and legitimized by an anthology of cultural references as heterogeneous as they are manifestly dear to a certain political area: Evola, Nietzsche, Jünger, Engels (David, not Friedrich). In short, a far-right group.
Morte France's positions cannot be overlooked because they are central to the concept of the entire project, including the album we find ourselves reviewing. “Hesperia” – a name that the Greeks attributed to Italy, but which here is understood as a more generic reference to the 'Western lands' – is in fact widely presented as a tribute to European identity, whatever this means. For Morte France, it is clearly a reclamation of reactionary values ​​and horizons of meaning, to which the mastermind Kval attributes a role of absolute centrality in the economy of his art.

Musically, “Hesperia” fully fits Antiq's aristocratic and rude taste: the careful but 'human' production, the grandeur declaimed with a punk attitude, the reference to certain environments of the French school and, more generally, to the continental way of making black metal make it a title perfectly consistent with the catalog of the transalpine label.
More in detail, if you like bands like Ungfell and Véhémence it is very likely that Morte France will already capture your attention with “Waldganger”, a song with a peculiar evolution that pressures the listener with a riffing that is as abrasive as it is captivating. Following this, “Europa Aeterna” foreshadows the remarkable variety of the platter, enriching the proposal with death elements, atmospheric nuances and almost ecclesiastical suggestions.
Kval, for his part, proves to be a versatile and over-the-top frontman, but not always equipped with an intuition for vocal lines equal to that demonstrated for riffs: “Le Chevalier, la Mort e le Diable” and “Kyrie Eleison”, for example, are both marred by passages of rare ugliness, both in writing and in execution.
“Le Chevalier…” also suffers from a certain structural weakness, which is only partially lifted by the title track – a pleasant but not surprising synth interlude in which a sighing Audrey Sylvain takes part, known above all for a long militancy in Peste Noire (a band that can also be counted among the influences of this work).
The second part of the album returns to black forms and frequencies, almost always contaminated in a rather interesting way: on “Lux Meae” a possessed penitent bursts into a church screaming in the languages ​​of black, death and folk punk; “Kyrie Eleison” makes a dark and trivial prayer resonate in that same church; while the long conclusion of “Fernweh” brings the conversation back to solemn tones, playing on the alternation of fast-paced rides and midtempo with a martial tone.

Overall, the impression is that “Hesperia” contains several good ideas, but that not all of them are fully in focus.
In our opinion, the main impact is the repetitiveness of some internal patterns (empty/full, growl/scream), a fairly predictable drumming, the wavering performance on the microphone and some choices that undermine the overall coherence of the work (the aforementioned “Hesperia”, for example, appears like an electronic 'patch' that struggles to blend in with the rest of the platter).
The final result is however more than decent, with rather original episodes that could deserve a listen by the most avid fans of the black underground.