By Grayson Hale
In a musical era full of so-called progressive metal acts, it has become increasingly difficult for groups to stand apart from the crowd and create something truly unique. The ‘Opeth formula’ is no longer enough (besides the fact that no one has ever managed to do it better than Opeth themselves) and it takes a great deal of innovation and creativity to find the real key to success in the genre.
To get right to the point, it is Noire’s failure to realise this that makes their debut, Dark Reverence, such a disappointment. This is an album that can best be described as uninspired, lacking originality and just plain boring. If that sounds harsh it probably is, but it’s simply too difficult to look past the generic, overused aspects of their sound. Dark Reverence lacks the atmosphere of black metal, the adventurousness of prog, and the hooks of melodic death metal, resulting in a sound that can easily be described using the aforementioned genres but, in fact, possesses of none of them. Sure, there are some cool riffs here (see: the title track) and this is not music that is inherently bad, it just plays everything way too safe and offers nothing in the way of advancing the genre.
In terms of what’s good, it’s clear that these guys know how to play and there is little stopping them with regards to their technical abilities. Sure, the vocals are a little below average and the drumming definitely needs some work, but overall the instrumentation is solid. As mentioned previously, the riffs are decent and the general ideas at play show that Noire undoubtedly have the potential to create something great in future. However, it is the acoustic guitars and piano (when they are finally introduced) that are the real saviours of Dark Reverence and it is a pity that they are so scarcely used throughout the first seven tracks. The last couple of songs prove to be the album highlights due to their strong use of both of these elements and it would be nice to see Noire be a little bolder with them in subsequent releases.
A real issue for the band is their persistent use of mid-tempo playing that genuinely hampers their progressive tendencies. With very little use of faster, more chaotic moments or quieter, slower parts, Noire come across as sounding very repetitive when they’re really not. All the songs sound the same and, with no atmosphere to back them up, the boredom soon kicks in. It should also be noted at this point that the production on this album is pretty awful, and not in the way black metal production should be, but this is an independent release so it’s excusable. It does, however, detract from the experience and it certainly doesn't accommodate attentive listening, which is what this band should be aiming for.
In conclusion, Dark Reverence is a sub-par release that really could have been much better, and Noire will need to improve drastically if they ever hope to release something in the same league as one of their influences. More prominent use of acoustic elements and variation in tempo will go a long way to helping them achieve their goal, along with a focus on the finer details of atmosphere and progression, and this could turn out to be the earliest stages of a truly great album-in-the-making.
