Review by Felix on November 24, 2019.

These guys have great luck. Indeed, they can be happy that they are not Germans. Otherwise, they would provoke a wave of indignation. The verdict would be easy: f**king Nazis, narrow-minded idiots that still live in the past. The know-it-alls would say that at least the titles of the second, the fifth and the sixth track show the anti-human attitude of the dangerous nationalists. Shame on them and their inadequately autochthonous messages. But, as mentioned before, Forteresse do not originate from Germany. The two musicians praise Quebec and they do it in an excellent way. That's particularly noteworthy, because they put all their eggs into one basket. Sprawling leads characterize the six songs almost exclusively. These leads are explosive, stormy, majestic, omnipresent, dominant, melodic, fanatic and sometimes archaic - to mention only the most outstanding traits. The lead vocals, recorded with a lot of reverb, also contribute a substantial feature, but the fairly monotonous, throaty and menacing voice does not deliver this wide range of emotions that the guitars offer. Anyway, the vocal performance is anything but bad. It reflects the passion of the duo in a clear and explicit manner.

Surely, Forteresse are inspired by Norwegian black metal in its purest form, but they possess an individual touch as well. The leads do not transform this kind of malignant fierceness that made "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" or "Pure Holocaust" so exciting. It seems as if the beauty of Quebec shimmers through each and every song. This does not mean that the music of Forteresse suffers from excessive softness. By no means! The outstanding speed of the songs and the dense sound speak a different language. Incidentally, the production cannot score with transparency or clarity, but this does not really matter. The sound of the guitars mirrors the defiant mentality of the band and this gives the album its special flair. Forteresse make no compromise and go their own way without forgetting to integrate the necessary amount of melodies. This makes the actually more or less extraordinary song structures easily accessible. The unusually long runtime of the single tracks also does not constitute a problem. Lengthy sections do not arise, and this is anything else but a matter of course.

The exceptional artwork honors a native violinist and composer who influenced North American folk music massively. The opener, the third piece and the title track have a complying intro. I guess that I understand the underlying intention. However, I must say that the abrupt introduction of the guitars leaves a slightly strange impression. It seems as if the six strings kill the violin mercilessly. These caricatures the original idea of the band. Yet shit happens and this is just a minor detail. All in all, the album definitely leaves its mark. Forteresse provide evidence that they have courage, compositional talent and a clear vision. It comes therefore as no surprise that "Métal noir québécois" holds very strong tracks.

"Une nuit pour la patrie" is a prime example of the rebellious art of Forteresse. While creating an original melody, the siren-like leads unleash a North American hurricane of the finest form. This piece holds more than ten minutes of full dedication and every single tone fit. One could describe further tracks, because all of them reach an amazing level. Just lend an ear to the overwhelming title track with its breathtaking speed. Yet I suggest cutting a long story short, because, as mentioned above, the entire album thrives on the guitar leads and the hook lines that they create. Add to this the fact that the listener is confronted with a work of passionate debutants who are bursting with energy and you can hopefully imagine how this full-length sounds. It's a monolithic monument that does not focus on variety, but its fanatic brilliance has an enormous impact. Sargent D. told us to "Speak English or Die", but, as you all know, he has retired a long time ago and I guess he sits in his rocking chair with warm clogs, thinking of his youth and poetic love songs such as "Pre-Menstrual Princess Blues". Be that as it may, the patriots of Forteresse disagree with his radical message and that's absolutely understandable, even for (some) Germans.

Post scriptum: I am sorry that I did not write another review for the new Metallica album.

Rating: 8.9 out of 10

Review by Felix on November 24, 2019.

These guys have great luck. Indeed, they can be happy that they are not Germans. Otherwise, they would provoke a wave of indignation. The verdict would be easy: f**king Nazis, narrow-minded idiots that still live in the past. The know-it-alls would say that at least the titles of the second, the fifth and the sixth track show the anti-human attitude of the dangerous nationalists. Shame on them and their inadequately autochthonous messages. But, as mentioned before, Forteresse do not originate from Germany. The two musicians praise Quebec and they do it in an excellent way. That's particularly noteworthy, because they put all their eggs into one basket. Sprawling leads characterize the six songs almost exclusively. These leads are explosive, stormy, majestic, omnipresent, dominant, melodic, fanatic and sometimes archaic - to mention only the most outstanding traits. The lead vocals, recorded with a lot of reverb, also contribute a substantial feature, but the fairly monotonous, throaty and menacing voice does not deliver this wide range of emotions that the guitars offer. Anyway, the vocal performance is anything but bad. It reflects the passion of the duo in a clear and explicit manner.

Surely, Forteresse are inspired by Norwegian black metal in its purest form, but they possess an individual touch as well. The leads do not transform this kind of malignant fierceness that made "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" or "Pure Holocaust" so exciting. It seems as if the beauty of Quebec shimmers through each and every song. This does not mean that the music of Forteresse suffers from excessive softness. By no means! The outstanding speed of the songs and the dense sound speak a different language. Incidentally, the production cannot score with transparency or clarity, but this does not really matter. The sound of the guitars mirrors the defiant mentality of the band and this gives the album its special flair. Forteresse make no compromise and go their own way without forgetting to integrate the necessary amount of melodies. This makes the actually more or less extraordinary song structures easily accessible. The unusually long runtime of the single tracks also does not constitute a problem. Lengthy sections do not arise, and this is anything else but a matter of course.

The exceptional artwork honors a native violinist and composer who influenced North American folk music massively. The opener, the third piece and the title track have a complying intro. I guess that I understand the underlying intention. However, I must say that the abrupt introduction of the guitars leaves a slightly strange impression. It seems as if the six strings kill the violin mercilessly. These caricatures the original idea of the band. Yet shit happens and this is just a minor detail. All in all, the album definitely leaves its mark. Forteresse provide evidence that they have courage, compositional talent and a clear vision. It comes therefore as no surprise that "Métal noir québécois" holds very strong tracks.

"Une nuit pour la patrie" is a prime example of the rebellious art of Forteresse. While creating an original melody, the siren-like leads unleash a North American hurricane of the finest form. This piece holds more than ten minutes of full dedication and every single tone fit. One could describe further tracks, because all of them reach an amazing level. Just lend an ear to the overwhelming title track with its breathtaking speed. Yet I suggest cutting a long story short, because, as mentioned above, the entire album thrives on the guitar leads and the hook lines that they create. Add to this the fact that the listener is confronted with a work of passionate debutants who are bursting with energy and you can hopefully imagine how this full-length sounds. It's a monolithic monument that does not focus on variety, but its fanatic brilliance has an enormous impact. Sargent D. told us to "Speak English or Die", but, as you all know, he has retired a long time ago and I guess he sits in his rocking chair with warm clogs, thinking of his youth and poetic love songs such as "Pre-Menstrual Princess Blues". Be that as it may, the patriots of Forteresse disagree with his radical message and that's absolutely understandable, even for (some) Germans.

Post scriptum: I am sorry that I did not write another review for the new Metallica album.

Rating: 8.9 out of 10

Review by Felix on November 24, 2019.

These guys have great luck. Indeed, they can be happy that they are not Germans. Otherwise, they would provoke a wave of indignation. The verdict would be easy: f**king Nazis, narrow-minded idiots that still live in the past. The know-it-alls would say that at least the titles of the second, the fifth and the sixth track show the anti-human attitude of the dangerous nationalists. Shame on them and their inadequately autochthonous messages. But, as mentioned before, Forteresse do not originate from Germany. The two musicians praise Quebec and they do it in an excellent way. That's particularly noteworthy, because they put all their eggs into one basket. Sprawling leads characterize the six songs almost exclusively. These leads are explosive, stormy, majestic, omnipresent, dominant, melodic, fanatic and sometimes archaic - to mention only the most outstanding traits. The lead vocals, recorded with a lot of reverb, also contribute a substantial feature, but the fairly monotonous, throaty and menacing voice does not deliver this wide range of emotions that the guitars offer. Anyway, the vocal performance is anything but bad. It reflects the passion of the duo in a clear and explicit manner.

Surely, Forteresse are inspired by Norwegian black metal in its purest form, but they possess an individual touch as well. The leads do not transform this kind of malignant fierceness that made "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" or "Pure Holocaust" so exciting. It seems as if the beauty of Quebec shimmers through each and every song. This does not mean that the music of Forteresse suffers from excessive softness. By no means! The outstanding speed of the songs and the dense sound speak a different language. Incidentally, the production cannot score with transparency or clarity, but this does not really matter. The sound of the guitars mirrors the defiant mentality of the band and this gives the album its special flair. Forteresse make no compromise and go their own way without forgetting to integrate the necessary amount of melodies. This makes the actually more or less extraordinary song structures easily accessible. The unusually long runtime of the single tracks also does not constitute a problem. Lengthy sections do not arise, and this is anything else but a matter of course.

The exceptional artwork honors a native violinist and composer who influenced North American folk music massively. The opener, the third piece and the title track have a complying intro. I guess that I understand the underlying intention. However, I must say that the abrupt introduction of the guitars leaves a slightly strange impression. It seems as if the six strings kill the violin mercilessly. These caricatures the original idea of the band. Yet shit happens and this is just a minor detail. All in all, the album definitely leaves its mark. Forteresse provide evidence that they have courage, compositional talent and a clear vision. It comes therefore as no surprise that "Métal noir québécois" holds very strong tracks.

"Une nuit pour la patrie" is a prime example of the rebellious art of Forteresse. While creating an original melody, the siren-like leads unleash a North American hurricane of the finest form. This piece holds more than ten minutes of full dedication and every single tone fit. One could describe further tracks, because all of them reach an amazing level. Just lend an ear to the overwhelming title track with its breathtaking speed. Yet I suggest cutting a long story short, because, as mentioned above, the entire album thrives on the guitar leads and the hook lines that they create. Add to this the fact that the listener is confronted with a work of passionate debutants who are bursting with energy and you can hopefully imagine how this full-length sounds. It's a monolithic monument that does not focus on variety, but its fanatic brilliance has an enormous impact. Sargent D. told us to "Speak English or Die", but, as you all know, he has retired a long time ago and I guess he sits in his rocking chair with warm clogs, thinking of his youth and poetic love songs such as "Pre-Menstrual Princess Blues". Be that as it may, the patriots of Forteresse disagree with his radical message and that's absolutely understandable, even for (some) Germans.

Post scriptum: I am sorry that I did not write another review for the new Metallica album.

Rating: 8.9 out of 10

Review by JD on November 25, 2012.

The UK is one of the major places in metal history. Many of todays acts can trace themselves and their music to Britain and their huge roll in making and shaping metal what it is today. A new crop of metallers are now coming out of the UK, to carve out their own sort of path in the ever growing scene we all know and love.

Obzidian plays an exciting hybrid of intricate Progressive Thrash, savage and very sadistic Death Metal that has added in a whole lot of melodies that come straight from all of the NWOBHM. All that is bound together with the bands passion for the music. What comes out is a metallic tour-de-force that the UK needs to be aware of and embrace.

With only one short song on the whole album, seems like Obzidian is wanting to give you your monies worth. I love almost every last track that was on this CD, but it was the sixteen minute plus song 'Blood Soaked Tears' that is the one that surprised me - as it never got boring or tedious and evoked many emotions that were accented by massive amounts of headbanging as well. It is class all the way through, each harmonies blended into one solid song.

Obzidian has been broken up and reunited a few times over the years, and that seem to just fuel them to bigger and better stuff when they came back together. They are now a solid line up and are ready to march across the globe to bring their brand of metal to the Banger Nation of the world.

Every metal fanatic should rejoice, as Obzidian now are offering up such a tasty bloodfeast of music.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 9.5
Production: 8
Originality: 8.5
Overall: 8.5

Rating: 8.7 out of 10