The French Noirsuaire is said—according to the encyclopedia of metallic truth—to hail from Montségur, the enigmatic village featured in Dan Brown’s novels, where a local priest is rumored to have once uncovered a treasure linked to Mary Magdalene. Whether these two musicians truly come from this mountain settlement remains shrouded in mystery. What is not mysterious, however, is the fact that Noirsuaire, after five EPs, has finally emerged with a full-length album.
The cover art was created by David Thiérrée, renowned for his work with acts such as Behemoth and Warloghe. His illustration perfectly captures the album’s atmosphere, described as reflecting an aura of archaic malignancy—a sense of ancient, malevolent energy that permeates the record from start to finish.
Musically, the duo wastes no time: this album is essentially a relentless barrage of blast beats, dripping with dissonance and suffocating coldness. There is little room for respite or nuance; Noirsuaire opts for the full frontal assault, and they deliver it with conviction. Fans of bands like Gorgoroth and Sargeist, or anyone drawn to the harsher, unyielding spectrum of black metal, will find their pores opening as they absorb this sonic poison straight through their eardrums.
The result is a record that feels both archaic and uncompromisingly modern—a violent, hermetic soundscape where myth, history, and pure sonic obliteration converge.
After all the EPs that N. has spewed out over the past few years, it was inevitable that a full-length album would eventually claw its way into the daylight. The only real question was when—and fortunately, the ever-attentive French label Osmose Productions, known for unearthing precisely this kind of uncompromising underground act, stepped in at the right moment. With their instinct for malignant talent, it’s no surprise that Noirsuaire’s debut has finally taken shape under their banner.
For this release, the young prodigy Mildrac, barely seventeen, once again settles behind the church organ for the interlude “Withering Veins.” His playing brings a ghostly, quasi-religious undertone to the album—like the last breath of a dying liturgy echoing through an abandoned chapel. In addition, Sébastien Tuvi of The Order of Apollyon lends his voice to “Fogged by the Leaves of Pestilence,” adding another layer of ritualistic menace to the track. Tuvi didn’t limit himself to vocal contributions: he also took charge of the mixing, shaping and kneading the sound into its final form. Under his hand, the album’s sonic landscape becomes a dense, oppressive mass—each blast, each riff, each shriek sharpened to a merciless edge.
Combined, these elements make the record feel less like a debut and more like a fully realized statement of intent: a fierce, unrelenting plunge into Noirsuaire’s bleak musical universe.
Was the wait worth it? Absolutely. This is a fiercely convincing and thoroughly intense debut album, one that leaves little doubt about the band’s capabilities. My gut tells me—quite literally—that we’ll be hearing much more from these madmen in the years to come. If this release is any indication of what the future holds, Noirsuaire is only just beginning to carve its mark into the black metal underground.
80/100
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