Parisian quintet Point Mort are an anomalous force to behold. Recently their new album Le point de non-retour got a worldwide release through Almost Famous.
Crafting a raw and energetic universe of sounds from the blackened stardust of pop, rock, electro and hip hop, Point Mort harnesses a daring yet masterful combination of styles. Rhythms, riffs and lyrics – the latter of which cover obscure topics while bathing in black metal influence – showcase a sharp and vulnerable approach to post-hardcore. While contrasting effects, breaks and vocals keep audiences guessing, the album marks the emergence of a fully-fledged and singular personality. A personality that dares to be different. As best exemplified on their latest single, ‘The Bent Neck Lady’, where an immense river cascades and sweeps you up in riffs. At times shimmering like Brutus or roaring like Deafheaven, while at the same time remaining blisteringly original.
Having made memorable appearances in recent years at Hellfest and Motocultor festivals in France, as well as Brutal Fest Tour in Cuba, the band also take to the road next month in support of their new album for a French tour. As is customary, all five musicians will revel in the devastation of playing live and promise uncompromising sets and emotional performances befitting Le point de non-retour’s brutal majesty.
We asked the band to list three releases that have played a big influence in their musical career…
Judas Priest – Defender of the Faith
Damien Hubert (bass): Our drummer Simon and I are classic heavy metal aficionados. Judas Priest is one of the many heavy metal bands we both enjoy, and I picked that specific album because it’s got everything there is to like about this type of music. There’s typical 80s drum sounds, tons of screaming and shrieking, outstanding guitar riffing, super catchy choruses… Defender of the Faith doesn’t contain a lot of big hits but it’s melodic, fast and heavy throughout with songs tailored for big arena audiences. The album opener (‘Freewheel Burning’) is typical Judas Priest; radical, relentless while still retaining that old-school groove. I’ve been listening to this now for almost thirty years and it has stood the test of time perfectly.
Strapping Young Lad – The New Black
Simon Belot (drums): Olivier and I share some sort of fascination for Devin Townsend, who we seem to like almost more for his persona than his actual music. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be friends with that guy? Of course, there is a lot of his music out there, I can’t say I love it all but there are some undeniable gems in his (very eclectic) discography. It’s safe to say Strapping Young Lad has been an influence for both of us as musicians. That sweet, unique mix of anger and humour, Devin’s disturbed and changing personality, strong musical points and seemingly limitless vocal abilities… that band had it all! We try to include those elements in Point Mort’s music as best as we can. I picked The New Black because it really is the be all and end all of metal albums for me. A true classic! I always skip some of the tracks that I feel are quite subpar, but the good tracks are so good that they make up for it a hundred times. If you don’t cry when listening to ‘Almost Again’, I don’t think we’d get along in person.
Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral
Damien: Not an obvious influence when you listen to past Point Mort albums but the first track of our new record Le Point de non-retour shows that NIN is a very important band for some of us. Our vocalist Sam and I picked The Downward Spiral because this is a masterpiece, but Broken, The Fragile or Pretty Hate Machine could have been included as well. Nine Inch Nails was a bridge between metal and dark, industrial music, which is an important part of our musical journey with Sam. NIN was insidious, twisted and sometimes simply sad. Nowadays, to some people, NIN may look like the side project of a guy composing Academy award-winning soundtracks, but back in the days, being a fan of Nine Inch Nails really meant something.
