Rallied amidst a sea of banner, polearm and glinting helm tales of knights both treacherous and austere are reimagined amidst greater capable arms as the first-borne hymnals of Paris, France-based epic melodic black metal quartet VÉHÉMENCE now comprise a fourth full-length album. That is to say that ‘Assiégé pour l’Eternité‘ is a full retelling and reconstitution of the band’s debut album aiming to suit their legacy while ramping the potential of their first strike. Though this is arguably a product primarily for the most ardent “medieval” melodic black metal hounds among us it’d just as well serve as a fresh introduction to the ambitious bolt from the blue these celestial chivalries had been twelve years ago.

Véhémence introduced themselves as a duo back in 2014 spearheaded by main composer/performer Tulzcha as well as original vocalist/lyricist B.R. with the shared intent of invoking an inspired fusion of Swedish and French melodic black metal ideals given to a medieval theme. Their debut album ‘Assiégé‘ (2014) was a modest digital release that’d been heavily supported by the online community I’d been involved in at the time, inspiring discussions of the merits of bands like Sühnopfer and Darkenhöld among others in new context. Sure, the vocals were kind of bad on a few tracks and the drums were clunky but this wasn’t a crime per the self-driven abundance of the era and those pieces provided foundation for the two much improved albums that’ve come since. So, what exactly justifies ripping it down off the wall and repainting it in finer detail?

Re-recordings are an odd subject to broach for the sake of whitewashing underground appeal, erasure of the struggle of “making do” at peak inspiration and conception. The most practical folks among us are anything but enjoyers of the remaster, believing that leaving well enough alone ensures their memory remains crystalline as a stake planted in the skull of time which secures their taste, or, marks their own exploration. Finding the original mix of Sacramentum‘s debut is, for example, relegated to shoddy low quality YouTube streams which pre-date a couple of soulless bass-boosted revisions (At the Gates too, more recently)… and I won’t start on what re-recordings from Destruction and ‘Stormblåst MMV‘ did to cheapen their already goofy legacies. So, is there reasonable justification for ‘Assiégé‘ being rebuilt while still rotting loose in the memories of those of us who’d been there pecking away at random Bandcamp links back in early 2014?

‘Assiégé pour l’Eternité‘ is not just a re-recording of ‘Assiégé‘ for the sake of correcting humble production values and programmed drums, though it does both of those things. With the recent addition of KK (Passéisme) on bass guitar and inclusion of drummer Thomas Leitner, who’d been with Véhémence since 2018, we get a strong rhythm section behind this material to start. Likewise vocalist Hyvermor (Hanternoz, Tour d’Ivoire) hadn’t performed on the band’s debut but does so here and I believe he has also reinterpreted the lyrics for this new version of the album to suit the notably rearranged pieces within as well as enter them more squarely into the lore built on their second and third albums. That is to say that this is a full redressing of their work which has been fundamentally altered to the point that it sounds like a follow-up to ‘Ordalies‘ (2022) rather than a distant predecessor.

Rather than scrape through a detailed comparison here I would first suggest that ‘Assiégé‘ is still a great record which brings out the heavy metal aspire at the heart of melodic black metal and gives it an epic and later-on folken edge. This is still true of the slick, fast-whipped trampling fanfare of ‘Assiégé pour l’Eternité‘ where we find a more efficient, precision cast performing at a decade improved level. Most of these changes are practical and performance-minded in transformation but Hyvermor‘s vocals take the most expressive liberties in achieving similar effect. In some cases songs have been shortened per their tightened pace (“En Quête du Graal”) or extended for the sake of more patiently fluttering reveal (“Assiégé pour l’Éternité”) but overall the album’s effect is heightened rather than drowned away by competency.

Do these changes justify themselves? Per my own taste, yes, they’ve put quite a lot of effort into a worthy release. Your answer will entirely depend on how sonically satisfied you are with ‘Assiégé‘ already and how highly you’d rate your own curiosity for a full rework of it. I am enough of a fan that this version reignites the magick Véhémence‘d stirred within their righteously involved melodic black metal threads twelve years ago, lending a bit of accelerant to an already solid debut. If nothing else ‘Assiégé pour l’Eternité‘ is ambitious and entertaining work on a level we’re not getting much of this last half-decade. A high recommendation.

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