Review by Tara on November 29, 2016.

Forteresse, the leaders of "Métal Noir Québécois" have returned to the forefront of ambient black metal with their latest release, Thèmes Pour La Rébellion. It is the Canadian quartets fifth full length release in their ten year life span and their strongest material to date. It follows in the footsteps of previous albums: a masterful and powerful black metal masterpiece engulfed in a swirling wall of biting tremolo, epic atmosphere and ambiance. It has an overall larger sound over past works perhaps due to the production quality and addition of two new band members.

The theme to this album is boldly depicted in its cover art, which features an illustration of Quebec City set ablaze. I'm not that much of a history buff but those of you who are into that sort of thing might find the theme of Quebec's history and present day political structure an added bonus. A fun side fact (but then again, if you know history, this is something you're aware of): Thèmes Pour La Rébellion was released on the date of Quebec's national holiday, Saint Jean Baptiste Day.

Overall, Thèmes Pour La Rébellion is an album that will appeal to a broad range of metal fans and please those who've followed Forteresse over the years. It is powerful and heavy on the atmosphere and melody without sounding cheesy or over-saturated. I've listened to this one over a dozen times at this point and during each listening session have found it to be more enjoyable than previous. A strong contender for Album of the Year.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Review by JD on December 19, 2017.

Hailing from France comes Eths… a band that packs many styles of metal into a Potpourri.  They have groove metal, along with shadings of death metal, alternative metal, deathcore and nu metal.  Combining so many metallic ingredients like this can be a tricky thing… can this band pull it off?  Just got to read on, my friends.

Brutal, extremely harsh music with a female vocalist who is as crushingly heavy as any singer out there, the band has the making of something to shout about. Sung entirely in French, it brings a sort of mystique to it all- especially when you don’t speak it.  But the novelty does burn off rather quick.

Musically strong, the quintet seems to barrel along at a break neck pace, changing between influences as fast as you can think. The music cracks your skull many times in one second, but sadly it leaves your consciousness as fast as it enters. It never retains in your memory… it blurs as the product as a whole hold no one’s attention span for any length of time except for scattered moments here and there.  What is there is enjoyable to here, and makes you headbang along, but as soon as the song is over, you forget it.

Eths are a great collection of musicians and well executed songs… but those just do not stay with me.  I enjoyed it, but alas… none of it stayed long enough for me to have the urge to hit play again.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10