TOUR D'IVOIRE – Tour D'Ivoire

vote
7.0

• Band:
  TOUR OF IVORY
• Duration: 00:34:00
• Available from: 06/09/2024
• Label:

• Antique Records

Streaming not yet available

Antiq Records is one of those labels that reflect with almost photographic fidelity the personality of its creator: in this case, that of Hyver, a very prolific French multi-instrumentalist, whose artistic choices are dominated by a taste for fantasy or historically inspired black sounds. A taste that stands out, obviously, also in his own musical creations, numerous and almost all produced by his own label: among these, we only recall here Hanternoz, Véhémence and Grylle, bands that can clearly be ascribed to a single matrix, yet all with different and rather defined identities.
The Tours d'Ivoire fit well into this 'family' of projects, which in this case are also intertwined with Hyver's real family: La Griesche, his partner in this new musical venture and the sole mind behind Cercle du Chêne, is in fact also his companion in life.
Tour d'Ivoire represents, in a certain sense, the atmospheric profile of Hyver's production, which here fruitfully meets La Griesche's vocation for synth black. In fact, we find condensed in this project all the distinctive characteristics of both their works, from the inevitable medieval nuance, to the singing in French; from the predilection for a riffing as direct as it is solemn, to the valorization of melodic components.
All of this is firmly rooted in its native soil, since, besides that of Burzum (and, perhaps, of Lustre), the influence that is most felt in this album is that of the school from beyond the Alps: to be clear, we are more in the territory of an atmospheric response to bands like Darkenhöld and Abduction, than the elaboration of an imaginary Middle Ages in the style of Summoning or Caladan Brood.
Even in light of these premises, we can say that the self-titled album with which Tour d'Ivoire make their recording debut is a good product, which grows with the listens and that, despite not saying anything truly new, demonstrates an already well-defined personality, whose essential traits are presented right from the opener “La Tour”. The song effectively exemplifies the rough and refined minimalism of the duo, which recalls to the imagination enchanted nocturnes like the one depicted in the very appropriate artwork through hypnotic guitar and synth turns. The sounds of organ and wind instruments, the ethereal voices and the pounding but rather muffled drums, almost imitating the flow of a distant stream, preserve a certain delicacy despite the scratchy screaming and extreme digressions.
The fact that the sound, the compositions and the arrangements have been left at a still partially raw stage gives an additional evocative charge to the proposal of Tour D'Ivoire, capable of feeding on a sense of indefiniteness and mystery.
The foggy and mystical atmosphere of the first piece accompanies the listener also in the following “Brouillard”, whose carrying guitar riffs echo with an almost romantic melancholy, whose magical and ancient dimension is underlined by the tinkling of a tambourine and a cadenced, dreamy, almost ectoplasmic vocal line. The first bars of “Fortresse de Marbre” make one fear stagnation (always the same sounds, always the same pace), but the piece immediately changes direction, revealing itself as the most lively and aggressive episode – if one can say so – of the platter, animated by a more pressing rhythmic section and a melody with a vaguely martial flavour. More theatrical is the conclusive “Givre”, which also lets one glimpse some light gothic and shoegaze suggestions, but which pays a bit for the repetition of some compositional solutions.
Overall, “Tour d'Ivoire” is a well-crafted album, with its own charm and dark fairytale aura that makes it a recommended listen for both lovers of atmospheric black and fans of medieval black.