INCANDESCENCE – Hors Temps

vote
6.5

• Bands:
  INCANDESCENCE
• Duration: 00:41:00
• Available from: 02/20/2026
• Label:

• Profound Lore

Streaming not yet available

With “Hors Temps”, Incandescence reach the milestone of their fifth full-length in just over a dozen years, confirming remarkable productivity and a trajectory that is in its own way coherent in its continuous redefinition. The project led by multi-instrumentalist Philippe Boucher – a name well known to certain fans of the underground world for his involvement in groups such as Beyond Creation and Chte'ilist – continues that path of internal research within a perimeter which, for convenience, we can still define as melodic black metal, despite all the ambiguities that this term brings with it today.

Published again by the prestigious Profound Lore, “Hors Temps” moves with a certain ease along a wide spectrum of extreme solutions, drawing from different traditions and schools, rarely fossilizing in a single direction. It is an album that seems to want to cross known territories, reworking them with skill and a certain formal elegance, rather than looking for clear tears or breaks. The opener “Affranchissement”, for example, immediately clarifies part of the coordinates: the riffing and some rhythmic solutions, especially in the drum accents, closely recall Mgla, with that sense of controlled march and constant tension that develops more through accumulation than explosion. Elsewhere, different references emerge: an episode like “Confluence”, at least in the central part, builds much of its strength on guitar intertwining with a solemn and vaguely epic edge, which can hark back to the Swedish school of the nineties and, more specifically, to the No Fashion Records galaxy. In “Le Vide”, however, the second half of the piece opens up to a more sorrowful and contemplative register, with atmospheres which, due to their emotional intensity and sense of suspended melancholy, can evoke the Drudkh. In short, the result is a record that invites careful listening, especially for those who have trained ears and enjoy recognizing and deciphering these continuous references.

It therefore becomes important to underline how Incandescence cannot easily be compared to the so-called Metal Noir Québécois school, except for their geographical origin. Here there is neither that strongly identifying aesthetic nor a recognizable poetics without fail: “Hors Temps” prefers to mix influences and structures, giving life to songs full of tempo changes and multiple sections, more enveloping than truly impactful. It is a writing that favors development and stratification, sometimes to the detriment of immediacy. And it is precisely here that the main limitation of the album lies: beyond the technical competence and the care in the arrangements, “Hors Temps” struggles a bit to offer truly memorable songs, “hits” capable of remaining impressed even after a long time. The sensation is that of a solid work, well constructed and overall pleasant to listen to, but without that extra edge that would guarantee superior longevity. A record that can satisfy, but which hardly excites, placing itself more in the category of appreciable works than in that of essential listening.