Disoriented in passage from predictive natural patternation unto increasingly anomalous and extremophilic shifting climes Claix, France-based progressive death metal trio EPITAPHE reflect the distemper of a species within unstable conditions on this contrast-rich third full-length album. Embracing their beguilement with progressive rock and fusing it with the harshened black/death and doom that’d initially sparked notice ‘III‘ collects the best attributes of the band’s sojourn thus far and wrenches all together into erratically flowing cascade. In the process of transformation their approach embraces extremes more deeply as the softer moments grow increasingly sombre and pillowy while their edgier dissonant riffcraft raises hackles back toward cataclysmic action. The end result is almost intentionally of two minds, splayed enough in focus to create an entertaining clash of wills amidst the surreal back-and-forth slosh of it all.

Epitaphe have technically been around since 2009 but hadn’t found any sort of foundation ’til 2016 when they’d begin work on material that’d served their 2018 released debut demo. I’ve written in great detail about each of their releases to date as their focus broadened beyond that first burst of cataclysmic blackened death metal. Their first album (‘I‘, 2019) lugged around a heavy funeral death/doom metal heart for a dying world, delivering chaotic brutality within enormous and aggressive longform pieces. That’d been the main point of fealty from my point of view, exaggerating and expanding to the point of singular experience. From that point they’ve moved in a progressive metal direction incorporating inspiration from within extreme metal and beyond it, showcasing atmospheric black metal and progressive rock fandom within their acclaimed follow-up (‘II‘, 2022). It was a great record: I’d placed it at #17 on my Top 100 Albums of 2022 and interviewed the band as well. Expectations of evolution were high when this third LP landed primarily for the sake of the apparent successes of ‘II‘ before it.

Hole punch in the bar code. — As I’d fired up ‘III‘ and settled into the softly plucked introduction offered by “Half-Light” I’d quickly encountered one of the most unfortunate choices Epitaphe have made here around the ~1:03 minute mark : A brief clip of a man’s voice going “Psh, psh, psh…” repeatedly, as if calling a cat. This petspeak was such a bizarre choice that I wasn’t sure if it was a troll or an actual creative decision. Assumedly employed to avoid leaks/piracy the band have altered all review copies of ‘III‘ to include this sound within several of the ambient moments on the record. As it turns out the already premiered album available online does not contain these artifacts. It wouldn’t make sense to include this in my rating, since it is unique to reviewer copies, but it nonetheless dissolved enthusiasm for this work quickly.

Album number three is achieved via simple math: One plus two equals three. That is to say that ‘III‘ is cumulative in its fusion of ‘I‘ and its massive wall of moody, abstract blackened death/doom with the experimental froth and float introduced on ‘II‘. The result is a progressive death metal album more indebted to early Opeth or newer Blood Incantation than it is The Ruins of Beverast or Disembowelment at face value. Opener “Windswept” offers a ~16 minute suite containing just about every potential elemental combination the band could muster be it roaring death metal plod, which they are quite good at, and breathy atmospheric prog ambiance… which they’re still finding their footing within. Clean vocals, twisted death/doom refrain, noir saxophone musing and the rest of their potential alchemy all grinds together to create effective points of juxtaposition and energetic transfer yet there is clear divide between nodes of long-developed authorship and newer developmental strands.

As Epitaphe come down from “Windswept” they press through the extended introduction of “Spring Frost” with programmed beats, acoustic guitars and such as their Ulver-esque treatment ramps toward the sort of pedal-stomp moment where their trompe turns to dissonant death metal tirade. When the full roar and rhythmic harangue of the trio’s blackened death metal spine is pulsing out they’re inarguably at thier best, reintroducing some of the wrath that’d made their first demo and LP such profound prospects. When they are producing liminal, somewhat forlorn spaces between, such as that of “Transient”, there’ll be no denying the nodes of ‘Absolute Elsewhere‘ and ‘Ghost Reveries‘ begin coughing through their corridor. I am not sure this is compelling on the same level as the ragged aggression found elsewhere but it does showcase ‘III‘ as a forward-looking experience rather than a plain blender of past notions.

Endpoint “Liminal” is probably the most successful piece here in terms of taking the greater glom of ambitions available to the Epitaphe name and creating something transformative with it. Beyond the reprisal of the saxophone as embellishment and a confrontational heave of death and doomed harass this piece makes particularly good case for their marriage of calm and chaos via its use of clean vocals and keys in exit from its own tumult. Though the post-metal structure of this piece, and most others here, provide vignette as statement there is yet a proper point of transmogrification occurring just as the album ends. Nonetheless “Windswept” will be the showpiece to sell the experience outright to most listeners.

Sound design here is appreciably hoary in terms of the blackened death/doom trucking throughout, a cavernous and crumbling underground sound that persists through each of Epitaphe‘s albums yet doesn’t seem to interrupt or inform their sleepier, entranced movements otherwise. The overall contrast of styles is accentuated by the overall render of their work, keeping the foundations of their approach unsteadied in transition goes a long way towards creating an evocative and personalized experience which exists to extract its biggest moments crossing between the severe and surreal. I’m not as sold on the more atmospheric drift of ‘III‘ as I was its deployment on its predecessor but the band’s work does not suffer from a lack of interest, touting an entertaining flow throughout. A moderately high recommendation.

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