The eternal question: can a phoenix rise from the ashes of a 15-year hiatus or will it be a faint echo of its past self? Enter Angher, the heavy metal behemoth founded by cellist Grégoire Korniluk, which dares to answer this question with their latest release, “Nothing Remains”. And, oh, the existential angst that ensues!
As I plunged deep into the sonic soundscape of “Nothing Remains”, my mind leaped right to abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock. Like his chaotic yet calculated strokes, Angher’s sound is a professional merge of heavy guitars-great work by Nils Courbaron-and driving rhythms-Quentin Regnault, you beast! Adriano Almeida makes quite a monster of an impression with his vocals, which veer between guttural growls and soaring melodies that raise images of a tempest-tossed sea.
But beneath the aural assault, there’s an amazingly labyrinthine journey of identity, existential reflection, and the actuality of change and loss. As if Angher was holding up the mirror to our collective psyche, perhaps daring us to look at the abyss. Of course, the lyrics pop up as a poignant reminder that self-awareness is a releasing and scaring perspective-a notion Guilherme Aguiar’s basslines seem to underpin with every throbbing note.
Not that there are not missteps in Angher’s rebirth. At times, the production feels too smooth, losing some of the raw, visceral energy so very compelling in their earlier work. But such a complaint is minor within an otherwise triumphant return to form.
I closed my eyes and let the musical current wash over me; the Greek concept of “kairos”-an opportune moment to seize and change-kept coming into my mind. Angher’s “Nothing Remains” is a clarion call for just such a turn, an encounter with the abyss inside and rebirth to light. Will you heed the call or stay mired in the quicksand of complacency? It is your choice much as the music would be.
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