Amesoeurs (album version)

Album review

The story of Amesoeurs as a band seems to be a classic case of individual personalities trying to find the right balance to work as a unit but never quite entirely getting there, resulting in hiatuses, only one live show ever played, years of silence, and last attempts at reactivation that finally fell apart. Thus the band's one full length effort to date, following an earlier EP and split single, repeating no tracks from either effort. Given that three of the bandmembers had also performed with or are still performing in Peste Noire the whole time, it's probably seen as more of an ultimately failed sidetrack on their end -- and in fairness, the most notable thing about Amesoeurs is how little of a unique identity it has in the end. Nearly every notable trend in recent French metal seems to crop up throughout, not to mention other sounds from elsewhere in Europe, from the thrashed vocals over H.I.M.-style romantic anthemicism on "Recuiellement" to the epic shoegaze swell of "Gas in Veins" (immediately recognizable as work by Neige), given his solo project Alcest to the full-on Cure-pop "Faux" and "Video Girl" and back again. It's all enjoyable enough but it's all very obvious as well, something that will gain attention less for its own worth and more for who it involved.
© Ned Raggett /TiVo