Peste Noire
Encyclopedia
Peste Noire is a Black metal
band from Avignon
, France
. It was founded by La sale Famine de Valfunde in 2000. La sale Famine has been the main member and creative force behind Peste Noire since its inception, and, to date, all songs (lyrics, music and solos) were written by La sale Famine (except "La Césarienne" on Folkfuck Folie
and various piano/organ interludes on Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor). The band offers a music which is in turn epic and melodic, sometimes more turbulent and aggressive, passionate and sorrowful and at times even openly sardonic. It always retains some degree of insanity and is generally raw, filthy and evocative of the atmosphere developed in France d'oïl
in the Middle Ages
. The band is sometimes referred to as P.N. or K.P.N (Kommando Peste Noire).
Famine started Peste Noire alone in 2000. As he wasn't able to play drums and refused to use a drum machine
, Famine quickly felt the need to find a session drummer for his newly founded one-man band
of "vieil e vil black metal franceis" (i.e "old and vile French black metal"). At the time, Famine was helped by a young musician who called himself Neige (French word for "snow") who agreed to be a session drummer only on Peste Noire's demos. Argoth, a session bass player, also helped up to the 2002 "Macabre Transcendance..." demo. Famine (then known as Aegnor/Feu Cruel) would also be the lead guitarist on Neige's Alcest
's first demo tape "Tristesse Hivernale
" released on 2001 through Drakkar Productions
in which Famine wrote the main riff of the song "La forêt de Cristal". Peste Noire released three demos called "Aryan Supremacy" (2001), "Macabre Transcendance..." (2002) and "Phalènes and Pestilence - Salvatrice averse" (2003) and one split demo tape with Sombre Chemin in their first four years of existence. All demos
were copied one by one on audio cassettes, the traditional media for demos in the black metal genre.http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=12841
In 2006, Famine hired new members Winterhalter (drums) and Indria (bass) for them to play on Peste Noire's first studio album
and to expand Famine’s music. They completed what Famine began to call "Kommando
Peste Noire". At the time, Famine had fired Neige from the band and P.N. was a three-piece band (Famine, Winterhalter, Indria) when the debut album La Sanie des siècles - Panégyrique de la dégénérescence
was recorded and produced in August 2006 by French label De profundis éditions. La Sanie des siècles
(which roughly translates as "The sanies of the centuries - Ode to degeneration", "sanies" being "a thin greenish foul-smelling discharge from a wound, ulcer, etc., containing pus and blood" according to the Collins English Dictionary
) is basically a compilation of the demo tracks previously written/recorded by Famine on his own equipment re-recorded in Rosenkrantz studio (Abigail, Celestia, Mortifera). Neige came as a guest
at the end of the recording sessions and made a vocal feature on "Dueil Angoisseus" (studio version). "Nous sommes fanés" (the introduction track) and "Des médecins malades et des saints séquestrés", the bonus track
on the album, were old demo tracks and it featured Famine (guitars, bass guitar, vocals) and Neige (session drums). Despite what several labels claim in order to sell Peste Noire to the masses, Neige doesn't play guitar, bass or drums on La Sanie des siècles - Panégyrique de la dégénérescence
and Famine put things straight when he stated: "The most absurd idea spread by idiots is that La Sanie des siècles is better because Neige was more involved in its recording and production, yet the fact is that the album was recorded without Neige, in 2005, when I had kicked him out of the band. [...] To claim that Neige is an important figure in PN is the same as saying that the person who plays the triangle in SOPOR AETERNUS AND THE ENSEMBLE OF SHADOWS is the main man in SOPOR", he added. La Sanie des siècles
was repressed a second time by De profundis éditions and Transcendental Creations as cd in August 2008. A vinyl version of La Sanie des siècles
co-produced by De profundis éditions and Finnish label Ahdistuksen Aihio Productions was also released in August 2009.http://www.ahdistuksenaihio.com/
On April 2007, the Finnish label Northern Heritage would release the "Lorraine Rehearsal" 12" EP including the legend "Hooligan Black Metal" and featuring four "rehearsal
" songs recorded in Lorraine
from August 2006. The B-side is the second version (20 minutes 10 s. long) of the epic track "Phalènes Et Pestilence", composed by Famine in 2005 and then recorded on his own recording equipment. (A tape version of the "Lorraine Rehearsal" was also released on Roman Saenko (Hate Forest
, Drudkh
)'s label Night Birds Records. It was limited to 300 hand-numbered copies). For the first time P.N. became a four-piece band (still with Winterhalter (drums) and Indria (bass), and Neige (second guitar on the "Lorraine Rehearsal") being reintegrated) fit for concerts. On June 3, 2007, Peste Noire played their first concert in Toulouse
, France.
De profundis éditions produced Peste Noire's second album Folkfuck Folie
released in June 2007. Folkfuck Folie
features studio versions of the four "rehearsal" tracks from the "Lorraine Rehearsal". This album whose lyrics sometimes seem on the verge of autobiography mainly deals with apocalyptic themes, the final triumph of the body over the torments of the mind, primal barbarity, wartime poetry, the spreading of sexually transmitted diseases, or mental disorder which is symbolized by the radio sample of the demented poet Antonin Artaud
used as an introduction to the track "Folkfuck Folie". Half of the lyrics were written by Famine and he took the other half from various French authors mainly from the medieval period such as Guillaume de Machaut
or Gautier de Coincy
to illustrate the parallel between medieval and modern apocalypse he had started to evoke with La Sanie des siècles - Panégyrique de la dégénérescence
s lyrics. This second album was described as "Folklore d’égout" ("Folklore from the sewers") by Famine and he ironically says that his goal was "to create the ugliest and most irritating sound possible, in order make the album unlistenable after having heard two songs. You have to be mentally unstable to go through the entire album" he added. While Neige’s input on La Sanie des siècles - Panégyrique de la dégénérescence
was non-existent, on Folkfuck Folie
he composed for the first and last time a track for Peste Noire: the thrashy oddity "La Césarienne", the lyrics of which are a poem written by Famine. Neige "never once played a single guitar riff except those on "La Césarienne", which was the only song he ever wrote for PN and will ever have written" Famine stated. By the way, in the studio sessions, Neige only played the second guitar on this track and he doesn't play any other guitar part on Folkfuck Folie
. Famine, who wrote all the other tracks on Folkfuck Folie
, remains the mastermind and exclusive guitarist and songwriter behind Peste Noire. A limited vinyl version co-produced by Northern Heritage and De profundis éditions was released in April 2010. It includes a long 2007 interview answered by Famine.
At the same period, Famine worked on two more songs called "Sérénade" and "Hôpital", a blend of folkish Black metal and post-punk with electronic beats featuring Sainte Audrey as guest vocalist. He released these songs under his own name Valfunde in a split 7" EP with Amesoeurs
produced by De profundis éditions in November 2007. In the liner notes it says ironically: "Recorded and mixed by Famine on outdated equipment with low-priced microphones". Famine quickly dropped the idea of Valfunde which wasn't his solo project but rather a short-lived side-project using electronic beats. Instead Famine used the post-punk ideas he had for Valfunde in Peste Noire's third album Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor (2009).
Also released in 2007 was a self-released double protape box Mors orbis terrarum containing all Peste Noire's demo tracks from the sold out demo tapes, and also a split 7" EP with Finnish black metal band Horna
which contained the new track "Paysage Mauvais". The Mors orbis terrarum compilation was re-released as vinyl by Debemur Morti Productions in September 2008 (This vinyl release includes all the demos featured on the tape box, except the very raw "Aryan supremacy" demo and the second demo version of "Phalènes et pestilence" which was on the B side of the "Lorraine Rehearsal" vinyl released by Northern Heritage in 2007).
In addition to their first concert in Toulouse
on June 3, 2007, Kommando Peste Noire also played concerts in Lyon
on June 23, 2007 and Bordeaux
on December 16, 2007 with Mayhem
. On January 19, 2008, Peste Noire played a concert in Oslo
, Norway (at Betong) and one in Boismont
on July 18, 2008. In August 2008, they also made a 13-date tour called "Les Treizes Nuits de la Peste" with Akitsa in Quebec
, the French-speaking part of Canada, known as New France
prior to the conquest of the area by the English during the Seven Years War. The band refused to play in the USA. It was the first time a French metal band had ever toured Quebec
.
In March 2009, De profundis éditions released Peste Noire's third album Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor (i.e "Ballad against the enemies of France") with a new line-up Famine had chosen consisting of a new drummer (A. from (Darvulia)) and a new bass player (Ragondin) replacing Neige, Winterhalter and Indria. This album, whose main theme is based on the nostalgia
for medieval France through traditional military songs or royal chants, is soundwise reminiscent of P.N. demos but the style evolved to a mix of Black metal and folk and crust, hard rock rhythms, piano / Hammond organ
interludes by Sainte Audrey-Yolande de la Molteverge and acoustic guitars. Famine characterized this unique style as "Boyscout satanism", in a very typically French fashion. P.N. also adapted François Villon
's song "Ballade contre les ennemis de la France" into a Black metal version entitled "Ballade cuntre les anemis de la France" for this album. Unlike the previous two albums which had been recorded in the Rosenkrantz studios, the Black metal tracks' music in Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor was recorded by Famine on his own recording equipment, like Peste Noire's demos.
A tape version of Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor was released in March 2009 anonymously. It was distributed by the label Tour de Garde from Quebec. Another tape version meant for Eastern Europe was also released on Roman Saenko (Hate Forest
, Drudkh
)'s label Night Birds Records.
In May 2011, Famine created his own label La mesnie Herlequin to release the band's fourth effort L'Ordure à l'état Pur. The new label is the only reliable source concerning Peste Noire on the internet. The album was recorded and mixed between August 2010 and January 2011 at the Green Studio (Fr) by Engwar. It saw the return of bass guitarist Indria and the recruitment of a new drummer, Vicomte Chtedire de Kroumpadis, as well as the integration of real classical session musicians (a cellist, an accordionist and a trombonist) to enhance the atmosphere or folkish aspect of some of the songs, such as in "Casse, Pêches, Fractures et Traditions". L'Ordure à l'état Pur is an album of contrasts, from the indus-orientated "Cochon Carotte et les soeurs Crotte" to the rockish dirge "La condi hu" or to the rich, emotional dulcimer melodies on "J'avais rêvé du Nord". The album favors the heaven/hell and melody/noise contrasts more than ever before with the singing of Audrey pitted against Famine's screams.
Even if Famine's music is characteristized by anarchic disdain and/or aristocratic sarcasm
(Famine acknowledged the underlying influence of Pieter Bruegel the Elder and François Rabelais
in Peste Noire's music
), giving it its distinctive voice, Famine's vision of Black Metal is also based on nationalism
and Peste Noire is proud of French cultural heritage, especially medieval France. Famine took some lyrics written in Old French
from medieval French writers such as François Villon
(for the song "Ballade cuntre les anemis de la France"), Christine de Pisan (for the song "Dueil Angoisseus") and Guillaume de Machaut
(for "Amour ne m'amoit ne je li") and from modern writers, such as Charles Baudelaire
("Le mort joyeux" and "Spleen"), Paul Verlaine
("Soleils couchants"), Tristan Corbière
("Paysage mauvais"), and Robert Brasillach
("Psaume IV").
They have been suspected of being a national-socialist band but Famine said they were French nationalists: "I am a nationalist, not a socialist... My two nations are : France d’Oïl (i.e Northern medieval France where langues d'oïl
were spoken) and Hell
". On Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francors digipack, Famine also stated that "Peste Noire is a nationalistic satanic band from France, not from Germany. Peste Noire reject any links with nazi imperialism
, which is essentially an enemy of French culture for which PN fight. Let it be understood one day..." Famine further explained why Peste Noire’s concept is based on nationalism when he stated:
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
band from Avignon
Avignon
Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. It was founded by La sale Famine de Valfunde in 2000. La sale Famine has been the main member and creative force behind Peste Noire since its inception, and, to date, all songs (lyrics, music and solos) were written by La sale Famine (except "La Césarienne" on Folkfuck Folie
Folkfuck Folie
Folkfuck folie is the second album by French black metal band Peste Noire. This album features the first four tracks of the Lorraine rehearsal EP re-recorded, re-interpreted and re-worked....
and various piano/organ interludes on Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor). The band offers a music which is in turn epic and melodic, sometimes more turbulent and aggressive, passionate and sorrowful and at times even openly sardonic. It always retains some degree of insanity and is generally raw, filthy and evocative of the atmosphere developed in France d'oïl
Langues d'oïl
The langues d'oïl or langues d'oui , in English the Oïl or Oui languages, are a dialect continuum that includes standard French and its closest autochthonous relatives spoken today in the northern half of France, southern Belgium, and the Channel Islands...
in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. The band is sometimes referred to as P.N. or K.P.N (Kommando Peste Noire).
Band history
Peste Noire was born in the mind of one La sale Famine de Valfunde (i.e "The filthy Famine of Valfunde") who wrote all songs (except one), solos, lyrics (except when taken from poets) and imagined the whole concept of Peste Noire since its creation. The other members aren't/have never been involved in the song-writing process but are/were always used as session musicians (Neige included ) playing the music written by Famine.Famine started Peste Noire alone in 2000. As he wasn't able to play drums and refused to use a drum machine
Drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
, Famine quickly felt the need to find a session drummer for his newly founded one-man band
One-man band
A one-man band is a musician who plays a number of musical instruments simultaneously using their hands, feet, limbs, and various mechanical contraptions. The simplest type of "one-man band" — a singer accompanying themselves on acoustic guitar and harmonica mounted in a metal "harp rack" below the...
of "vieil e vil black metal franceis" (i.e "old and vile French black metal"). At the time, Famine was helped by a young musician who called himself Neige (French word for "snow") who agreed to be a session drummer only on Peste Noire's demos. Argoth, a session bass player, also helped up to the 2002 "Macabre Transcendance..." demo. Famine (then known as Aegnor/Feu Cruel) would also be the lead guitarist on Neige's Alcest
Alcest
Alcest is a musical project born in Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France. It began in 2000 with three members – Neige, Aegnor and Argoth. This band released a demo of black metal songs in 2001. Shortly after, Aegnor and Argoth left the band, leaving Neige as the sole member...
's first demo tape "Tristesse Hivernale
Tristesse Hivernale
Tristesse Hivernale is a demo by black metal Neige-led band Alcest, released in 2001 on Drakkar Productions. Unlike the following albums, this style of this demo is traditional black metal with a raw sound and harsh vocals...
" released on 2001 through Drakkar Productions
Drakkar Productions
Drakkar Productions is a French record label that has released many recordings of black metal bands throughout the world, on CD, cassette and vinyl. They have usually limited the prints to 1000 copies or less, but some have been known to vary...
in which Famine wrote the main riff of the song "La forêt de Cristal". Peste Noire released three demos called "Aryan Supremacy" (2001), "Macabre Transcendance..." (2002) and "Phalènes and Pestilence - Salvatrice averse" (2003) and one split demo tape with Sombre Chemin in their first four years of existence. All demos
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
were copied one by one on audio cassettes, the traditional media for demos in the black metal genre.http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=12841
In 2006, Famine hired new members Winterhalter (drums) and Indria (bass) for them to play on Peste Noire's first studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
and to expand Famine’s music. They completed what Famine began to call "Kommando
Kommando
Kommando is a generic German word meaning unit or command. During World War II it was also the basic unit of organisation of slave labourers in German concentration camps....
Peste Noire". At the time, Famine had fired Neige from the band and P.N. was a three-piece band (Famine, Winterhalter, Indria) when the debut album La Sanie des siècles - Panégyrique de la dégénérescence
La Sanie des siècles - Panégyrique de la dégénérescence
La Sanie des siècles – Panégyrique de la dégénérescence is the debut album by the French black metal band Peste Noire...
was recorded and produced in August 2006 by French label De profundis éditions. La Sanie des siècles
La Sanie des siècles - Panégyrique de la dégénérescence
La Sanie des siècles – Panégyrique de la dégénérescence is the debut album by the French black metal band Peste Noire...
(which roughly translates as "The sanies of the centuries - Ode to degeneration", "sanies" being "a thin greenish foul-smelling discharge from a wound, ulcer, etc., containing pus and blood" according to the Collins English Dictionary
Collins English Dictionary
The Collins English Dictionary is an important printed dictionary of English. It is published by HarperCollins.The first edition of the Collins English Dictionary with Patrick Hanks as editor and Lawrence Urdang as editorial director, was a milestone in British dictionary making as it was the...
) is basically a compilation of the demo tracks previously written/recorded by Famine on his own equipment re-recorded in Rosenkrantz studio (Abigail, Celestia, Mortifera). Neige came as a guest
Guest appearance
In show business , a guest appearance is a participation of an outsider performer , usually called guest artist , in an event , i.e., the participation of a performer which does not belong to the regular crew In performance...
at the end of the recording sessions and made a vocal feature on "Dueil Angoisseus" (studio version). "Nous sommes fanés" (the introduction track) and "Des médecins malades et des saints séquestrés", the bonus track
Bonus track
In terms of recorded music, a bonus track is a piece of music which has been included on specific releases or reissues of an album. This is most often done as a promotional device, either as an incentive to customers to purchase albums they might otherwise not, or to repurchase albums they already...
on the album, were old demo tracks and it featured Famine (guitars, bass guitar, vocals) and Neige (session drums). Despite what several labels claim in order to sell Peste Noire to the masses, Neige doesn't play guitar, bass or drums on La Sanie des siècles - Panégyrique de la dégénérescence
La Sanie des siècles - Panégyrique de la dégénérescence
La Sanie des siècles – Panégyrique de la dégénérescence is the debut album by the French black metal band Peste Noire...
and Famine put things straight when he stated: "The most absurd idea spread by idiots is that La Sanie des siècles is better because Neige was more involved in its recording and production, yet the fact is that the album was recorded without Neige, in 2005, when I had kicked him out of the band. [...] To claim that Neige is an important figure in PN is the same as saying that the person who plays the triangle in SOPOR AETERNUS AND THE ENSEMBLE OF SHADOWS is the main man in SOPOR", he added. La Sanie des siècles
La Sanie des siècles - Panégyrique de la dégénérescence
La Sanie des siècles – Panégyrique de la dégénérescence is the debut album by the French black metal band Peste Noire...
was repressed a second time by De profundis éditions and Transcendental Creations as cd in August 2008. A vinyl version of La Sanie des siècles
La Sanie des siècles - Panégyrique de la dégénérescence
La Sanie des siècles – Panégyrique de la dégénérescence is the debut album by the French black metal band Peste Noire...
co-produced by De profundis éditions and Finnish label Ahdistuksen Aihio Productions was also released in August 2009.http://www.ahdistuksenaihio.com/
On April 2007, the Finnish label Northern Heritage would release the "Lorraine Rehearsal" 12" EP including the legend "Hooligan Black Metal" and featuring four "rehearsal
Rehearsal
For other uses, see Rehearsal or Dress rehearsal A rehearsal is a preparatory event in music and theatre that is performed before the official public performance, as a form of practice, and to ensure that all details of the performance are adequately prepared and coordinated for professional...
" songs recorded in Lorraine
Lorraine (région)
Lorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...
from August 2006. The B-side is the second version (20 minutes 10 s. long) of the epic track "Phalènes Et Pestilence", composed by Famine in 2005 and then recorded on his own recording equipment. (A tape version of the "Lorraine Rehearsal" was also released on Roman Saenko (Hate Forest
Hate Forest
Hate Forest was a Ukrainian black metal band formed by Roman Saenko, the leading member of Drudkh, Dark Ages, and Blood of Kingu. Thurios joined the band in 1998 after the recording of "Scythia". The music is mostly very fast, but occasionally slow, with low, distorted vocals and dark ambient...
, Drudkh
Drudkh
Drudkh is a Ukrainian metal band that mixes elements of folk metal and black metal. They were formed by Roman Saenko, prolific metal musician, the leading member of Hate Forest, Dark Ages and Blood of Kingu; Thurios, the leading member of Astrofaes and, with Saenko, a former member of Hate Forest;...
)'s label Night Birds Records. It was limited to 300 hand-numbered copies). For the first time P.N. became a four-piece band (still with Winterhalter (drums) and Indria (bass), and Neige (second guitar on the "Lorraine Rehearsal") being reintegrated) fit for concerts. On June 3, 2007, Peste Noire played their first concert in Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, France.
De profundis éditions produced Peste Noire's second album Folkfuck Folie
Folkfuck Folie
Folkfuck folie is the second album by French black metal band Peste Noire. This album features the first four tracks of the Lorraine rehearsal EP re-recorded, re-interpreted and re-worked....
released in June 2007. Folkfuck Folie
Folkfuck Folie
Folkfuck folie is the second album by French black metal band Peste Noire. This album features the first four tracks of the Lorraine rehearsal EP re-recorded, re-interpreted and re-worked....
features studio versions of the four "rehearsal" tracks from the "Lorraine Rehearsal". This album whose lyrics sometimes seem on the verge of autobiography mainly deals with apocalyptic themes, the final triumph of the body over the torments of the mind, primal barbarity, wartime poetry, the spreading of sexually transmitted diseases, or mental disorder which is symbolized by the radio sample of the demented poet Antonin Artaud
Antonin Artaud
Antoine Marie Joseph Artaud, more well-known as Antonin Artaud was a French playwright, poet, actor and theatre director...
used as an introduction to the track "Folkfuck Folie". Half of the lyrics were written by Famine and he took the other half from various French authors mainly from the medieval period such as Guillaume de Machaut
Guillaume de Machaut
Guillaume de Machaut was a Medieval French poet and composer. He is one of the earliest composers on whom significant biographical information is available....
or Gautier de Coincy
Gautier de Coincy
Gautier de Coincy was a French abbot, poet and musical arranger, chiefly known for his devotion to the Virgin Mary.While he served as prior of Vic-sur-Aisne he compiled Les Miracles de Nostre-Dame in which he set poems in praise of the Virgin Mary to popular melodies and songs of his...
to illustrate the parallel between medieval and modern apocalypse he had started to evoke with La Sanie des siècles - Panégyrique de la dégénérescence
La Sanie des siècles - Panégyrique de la dégénérescence
La Sanie des siècles – Panégyrique de la dégénérescence is the debut album by the French black metal band Peste Noire...
s lyrics. This second album was described as "Folklore d’égout" ("Folklore from the sewers") by Famine and he ironically says that his goal was "to create the ugliest and most irritating sound possible, in order make the album unlistenable after having heard two songs. You have to be mentally unstable to go through the entire album" he added. While Neige’s input on La Sanie des siècles - Panégyrique de la dégénérescence
La Sanie des siècles - Panégyrique de la dégénérescence
La Sanie des siècles – Panégyrique de la dégénérescence is the debut album by the French black metal band Peste Noire...
was non-existent, on Folkfuck Folie
Folkfuck Folie
Folkfuck folie is the second album by French black metal band Peste Noire. This album features the first four tracks of the Lorraine rehearsal EP re-recorded, re-interpreted and re-worked....
he composed for the first and last time a track for Peste Noire: the thrashy oddity "La Césarienne", the lyrics of which are a poem written by Famine. Neige "never once played a single guitar riff except those on "La Césarienne", which was the only song he ever wrote for PN and will ever have written" Famine stated. By the way, in the studio sessions, Neige only played the second guitar on this track and he doesn't play any other guitar part on Folkfuck Folie
Folkfuck Folie
Folkfuck folie is the second album by French black metal band Peste Noire. This album features the first four tracks of the Lorraine rehearsal EP re-recorded, re-interpreted and re-worked....
. Famine, who wrote all the other tracks on Folkfuck Folie
Folkfuck Folie
Folkfuck folie is the second album by French black metal band Peste Noire. This album features the first four tracks of the Lorraine rehearsal EP re-recorded, re-interpreted and re-worked....
, remains the mastermind and exclusive guitarist and songwriter behind Peste Noire. A limited vinyl version co-produced by Northern Heritage and De profundis éditions was released in April 2010. It includes a long 2007 interview answered by Famine.
At the same period, Famine worked on two more songs called "Sérénade" and "Hôpital", a blend of folkish Black metal and post-punk with electronic beats featuring Sainte Audrey as guest vocalist. He released these songs under his own name Valfunde in a split 7" EP with Amesoeurs
Amesoeurs
Amesoeurs was a French post-punk/black metal band formed in Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France in Summer 2004 by guitarist/vocalist Neige of Alcest fame, and by bassist/singer Audrey Sylvain and guitarist Fursy Teyssier with the purpose of creating a music that reflects the dark side of the industrial era...
produced by De profundis éditions in November 2007. In the liner notes it says ironically: "Recorded and mixed by Famine on outdated equipment with low-priced microphones". Famine quickly dropped the idea of Valfunde which wasn't his solo project but rather a short-lived side-project using electronic beats. Instead Famine used the post-punk ideas he had for Valfunde in Peste Noire's third album Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor (2009).
Also released in 2007 was a self-released double protape box Mors orbis terrarum containing all Peste Noire's demo tracks from the sold out demo tapes, and also a split 7" EP with Finnish black metal band Horna
Horna
Horna is a Finnish black metal band that formed in 1993. The band has appeared on over thirty releases including splits, demos, EPs and albums since 1995, which have been released through numerous record labels.-History:...
which contained the new track "Paysage Mauvais". The Mors orbis terrarum compilation was re-released as vinyl by Debemur Morti Productions in September 2008 (This vinyl release includes all the demos featured on the tape box, except the very raw "Aryan supremacy" demo and the second demo version of "Phalènes et pestilence" which was on the B side of the "Lorraine Rehearsal" vinyl released by Northern Heritage in 2007).
In addition to their first concert in Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
on June 3, 2007, Kommando Peste Noire also played concerts in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
on June 23, 2007 and Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
on December 16, 2007 with Mayhem
Mayhem (band)
Mayhem is a Norwegian black metal band formed in 1984 in Oslo, Norway and regarded as one of the pioneers of the influential Norwegian black metal scene...
. On January 19, 2008, Peste Noire played a concert in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, Norway (at Betong) and one in Boismont
Boismont
Boismont amy refer to:* Boismont, Meurthe-et-Moselle, a commune in the department of Meurthe-et-Moselle in France* Boismont, Somme, a commune in the department of Somme in France...
on July 18, 2008. In August 2008, they also made a 13-date tour called "Les Treizes Nuits de la Peste" with Akitsa in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, the French-speaking part of Canada, known as New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
prior to the conquest of the area by the English during the Seven Years War. The band refused to play in the USA. It was the first time a French metal band had ever toured Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
.
In March 2009, De profundis éditions released Peste Noire's third album Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor (i.e "Ballad against the enemies of France") with a new line-up Famine had chosen consisting of a new drummer (A. from (Darvulia)) and a new bass player (Ragondin) replacing Neige, Winterhalter and Indria. This album, whose main theme is based on the nostalgia
Nostalgia
The term nostalgia describes a yearning for the past, often in idealized form.The word is a learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of , meaning "returning home", a Homeric word, and , meaning "pain, ache"...
for medieval France through traditional military songs or royal chants, is soundwise reminiscent of P.N. demos but the style evolved to a mix of Black metal and folk and crust, hard rock rhythms, piano / Hammond organ
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
interludes by Sainte Audrey-Yolande de la Molteverge and acoustic guitars. Famine characterized this unique style as "Boyscout satanism", in a very typically French fashion. P.N. also adapted François Villon
François Villon
François Villon was a French poet, thief, and vagabond. He is perhaps best known for his Testaments and his Ballade des Pendus, written while in prison...
's song "Ballade contre les ennemis de la France" into a Black metal version entitled "Ballade cuntre les anemis de la France" for this album. Unlike the previous two albums which had been recorded in the Rosenkrantz studios, the Black metal tracks' music in Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor was recorded by Famine on his own recording equipment, like Peste Noire's demos.
A tape version of Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor was released in March 2009 anonymously. It was distributed by the label Tour de Garde from Quebec. Another tape version meant for Eastern Europe was also released on Roman Saenko (Hate Forest
Hate Forest
Hate Forest was a Ukrainian black metal band formed by Roman Saenko, the leading member of Drudkh, Dark Ages, and Blood of Kingu. Thurios joined the band in 1998 after the recording of "Scythia". The music is mostly very fast, but occasionally slow, with low, distorted vocals and dark ambient...
, Drudkh
Drudkh
Drudkh is a Ukrainian metal band that mixes elements of folk metal and black metal. They were formed by Roman Saenko, prolific metal musician, the leading member of Hate Forest, Dark Ages and Blood of Kingu; Thurios, the leading member of Astrofaes and, with Saenko, a former member of Hate Forest;...
)'s label Night Birds Records.
In May 2011, Famine created his own label La mesnie Herlequin to release the band's fourth effort L'Ordure à l'état Pur. The new label is the only reliable source concerning Peste Noire on the internet. The album was recorded and mixed between August 2010 and January 2011 at the Green Studio (Fr) by Engwar. It saw the return of bass guitarist Indria and the recruitment of a new drummer, Vicomte Chtedire de Kroumpadis, as well as the integration of real classical session musicians (a cellist, an accordionist and a trombonist) to enhance the atmosphere or folkish aspect of some of the songs, such as in "Casse, Pêches, Fractures et Traditions". L'Ordure à l'état Pur is an album of contrasts, from the indus-orientated "Cochon Carotte et les soeurs Crotte" to the rockish dirge "La condi hu" or to the rich, emotional dulcimer melodies on "J'avais rêvé du Nord". The album favors the heaven/hell and melody/noise contrasts more than ever before with the singing of Audrey pitted against Famine's screams.
Band concept
One of PN's leitmotifs is that of Satanism (not any type of Satanism though as PN preaches the worship of Indoeuropean Satans or devils inspired by Pan, not the monotheistic Jewish cult of the semitic Satan) as is common for bands in the Black Metal genre but PN certainly can't be reduced to that.Even if Famine's music is characteristized by anarchic disdain and/or aristocratic sarcasm
Sarcasm
Sarcasm is “a sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter jibe or taunt.” Though irony and understatement is usually the immediate context, most authorities distinguish sarcasm from irony; however, others argue that sarcasm may or often does involve irony or employs...
(Famine acknowledged the underlying influence of Pieter Bruegel the Elder and François Rabelais
François Rabelais
François Rabelais was a major French Renaissance writer, doctor, Renaissance humanist, monk and Greek scholar. He has historically been regarded as a writer of fantasy, satire, the grotesque, bawdy jokes and songs...
in Peste Noire's music
), giving it its distinctive voice, Famine's vision of Black Metal is also based on nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
and Peste Noire is proud of French cultural heritage, especially medieval France. Famine took some lyrics written in Old French
Old French
Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century...
from medieval French writers such as François Villon
François Villon
François Villon was a French poet, thief, and vagabond. He is perhaps best known for his Testaments and his Ballade des Pendus, written while in prison...
(for the song "Ballade cuntre les anemis de la France"), Christine de Pisan (for the song "Dueil Angoisseus") and Guillaume de Machaut
Guillaume de Machaut
Guillaume de Machaut was a Medieval French poet and composer. He is one of the earliest composers on whom significant biographical information is available....
(for "Amour ne m'amoit ne je li") and from modern writers, such as Charles Baudelaire
Charles Baudelaire
Charles Baudelaire was a French poet who produced notable work as an essayist, art critic, and pioneering translator of Edgar Allan Poe. His most famous work, Les Fleurs du mal expresses the changing nature of beauty in modern, industrializing Paris during the nineteenth century...
("Le mort joyeux" and "Spleen"), Paul Verlaine
Paul Verlaine
Paul-Marie Verlaine was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the fin de siècle in international and French poetry.-Early life:...
("Soleils couchants"), Tristan Corbière
Tristan Corbière
Tristan Corbière , born Édouard-Joachim Corbière, was a French poet born in Coat-Congar, Ploujean in Brittany, where he lived most of his life and where he died....
("Paysage mauvais"), and Robert Brasillach
Robert Brasillach
Robert Brasillach was a French author and journalist. Brasillach is best known as the editor of Je suis partout, a nationalist newspaper which came to advocate various fascist movements and supported Jacques Doriot...
("Psaume IV").
They have been suspected of being a national-socialist band but Famine said they were French nationalists: "I am a nationalist, not a socialist... My two nations are : France d’Oïl (i.e Northern medieval France where langues d'oïl
Langues d'oïl
The langues d'oïl or langues d'oui , in English the Oïl or Oui languages, are a dialect continuum that includes standard French and its closest autochthonous relatives spoken today in the northern half of France, southern Belgium, and the Channel Islands...
were spoken) and Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
". On Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francors digipack, Famine also stated that "Peste Noire is a nationalistic satanic band from France, not from Germany. Peste Noire reject any links with nazi imperialism
Imperialism
Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
, which is essentially an enemy of French culture for which PN fight. Let it be understood one day..." Famine further explained why Peste Noire’s concept is based on nationalism when he stated:
"Black Metal is the musical memory of our bloodthirsty ancestors of blood, it is the marriage of Tradition, of old racial patrimony with fanaticismFanaticismFanaticism is a belief or behavior involving uncritical zeal, particularly for an extreme religious or political cause or in some cases sports, or with an obsessive enthusiasm for a pastime or hobby...
, with the rage and the rashness of a youth now lost. It is a CHTHONICChthonicChthonic designates, or pertains to, deities or spirits of the underworld, especially in relation to Greek religion. The Greek word khthon is one of several for "earth"; it typically refers to the interior of the soil, rather than the living surface of the land or the land as territory...
religion: a cult of the EARTH and a return to it, therefore a nationalism; a cult of what is BELOW the earth: Hell — the adjective “chthonic” applies to the Infernal gods as well. BM is a fundamentalismFundamentalismFundamentalism is strict adherence to specific theological doctrines usually understood as a reaction against Modernist theology. The term "fundamentalism" was originally coined by its supporters to describe a specific package of theological beliefs that developed into a movement within the...
, a music with integrity (from latin integer, complete) which helps me to remain complete in a dying world, amidst a people in decay, unworthy of its blood. It is the apologyApologeticsApologetics is the discipline of defending a position through the systematic use of reason. Early Christian writers Apologetics (from Greek ἀπολογία, "speaking in defense") is the discipline of defending a position (often religious) through the systematic use of reason. Early Christian writers...
of the dark european past. It is a psychosisPsychosisPsychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
which helps us to flee a reality we cannot tolerate anymore."
Exposure
Famine has always rejected the exposure of his music on the internet. There has never been any official P.N. website, nor any official P.N. myspace page. Several "fan myspace pages" currently exist (myspace.com/pestenoire, myspace.com/pestenoiremetal and others) but they are in no way official as they go against Famine’s vision of BM. In August 2009, Famine stated in Diabolical Conquest webzine :
"The Internet is what has drawn Black Metal to the masses, a new age where everything is accessible to all types of fools at any time of the day, a new era where misanthropes gather at online communities wanting to make as many friends as possible. The occult, underground and elitist movement which the BLACK LEGIONS embodied is no longer possible: some idiot will inevitably put demo tapes on the Internet... [...] When I hear how these people managed to ruin the sound of my songs by putting them on myspace or youtube, I think I'd rather die than be the composer of those songs. If I were some random guy who'd find out about PESTE NOIRE through the sound files found on the Internet, I'd have a good laugh and I'd stop listening to the music immediately. ON BEHALF OF MY BAND, I DEMAND THAT ALL INDIVIDUALS WHO CREATED PESTE NOIRE MYSPACE PAGES DELETE THESE PAGES IMMEDIATELY; MY MUSIC IS NOT MEANT TO BE LISTENED TO ON A COMPUTER."
Discography
- Aryan Supremacy (demo) - 2001
- Mémoire Païenne (split demo) - 2002
- Macabre Transcendance... (demo) - 2002
- Phalènes et Pestilence - Salvatrice Averse (demo) - 2003
- Phalènes et Pestilence (demo) - 2005
- La Sanie des siècles - Panégyrique de la dégénérescenceLa Sanie des siècles - Panégyrique de la dégénérescenceLa Sanie des siècles – Panégyrique de la dégénérescence is the debut album by the French black metal band Peste Noire...
album - 2006 - Lorraine Rehearsal (12" EP) - 2007
- Folkfuck FolieFolkfuck FolieFolkfuck folie is the second album by French black metal band Peste Noire. This album features the first four tracks of the Lorraine rehearsal EP re-recorded, re-interpreted and re-worked....
album - 2007 - Mors Orbis Terrarum (compilation) - 2007
- Horna/Peste Noire (split) - 2007
- Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor album - 2009
- L'Ordure à l'état Pur album - 2011
Band members
- La sale Famine de Valfunde (formerly Aegnor/Feu Cruel) (2000-now) - Lead and rhythm guitars, bass, harmonica, lead vocals, songwriting, dulcimer, solos and lyrics (except when taken from poets) in all recordings by Peste Noire since he created the band in 2000 (ex-AlcestAlcestAlcest is a musical project born in Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France. It began in 2000 with three members – Neige, Aegnor and Argoth. This band released a demo of black metal songs in 2001. Shortly after, Aegnor and Argoth left the band, leaving Neige as the sole member...
(2000-2001), Valfunde). - Sainte Audrey-Yolande de la Molteverge (Audrey Sylvain) (2007-) - vocals on Folkfuck Folie and L'Ordure à l'état Pur, vocals, piano, hammond organ on Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor. (also in AmesoeursAmesoeursAmesoeurs was a French post-punk/black metal band formed in Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France in Summer 2004 by guitarist/vocalist Neige of Alcest fame, and by bassist/singer Audrey Sylvain and guitarist Fursy Teyssier with the purpose of creating a music that reflects the dark side of the industrial era...
) - Indria (2006-2008)(2011) - bass on La Sanie des sièclesLa Sanie des siècles - Panégyrique de la dégénérescenceLa Sanie des siècles – Panégyrique de la dégénérescence is the debut album by the French black metal band Peste Noire...
, Lorraine Rehearsal (10' LP), Folkfuck FolieFolkfuck FolieFolkfuck folie is the second album by French black metal band Peste Noire. This album features the first four tracks of the Lorraine rehearsal EP re-recorded, re-interpreted and re-worked....
and bass, fretless bass on L'Ordure à l'état Pur, session live bass. (also in Triste Sir) - Vicomte Chtedire de Kroumpadis (2011)- drums on L'Ordure à l'état Pur
Former members
- Neige (2001-2005)- session drummer only on Aryan Supremacy (demo 2001), Mémoire Païenne (split demo 2002), Macabre Transcendance... (demo 2002), Phalènes et Pestilence - Salvatrice Averse (demo 2003), Phalènes et Pestilence (demo 2005)
(2007-2008) - session rhythm guitars on "La Césarienne", the only track Neige played on Folkfuck FolieFolkfuck FolieFolkfuck folie is the second album by French black metal band Peste Noire. This album features the first four tracks of the Lorraine rehearsal EP re-recorded, re-interpreted and re-worked....
's studio sessions, guest vocals appearanceGuest appearanceIn show business , a guest appearance is a participation of an outsider performer , usually called guest artist , in an event , i.e., the participation of a performer which does not belong to the regular crew In performance...
on "Dueil Angoisseus" (La Sanie des siècles - Panégyrique de la dégénérescenceLa Sanie des siècles - Panégyrique de la dégénérescenceLa Sanie des siècles – Panégyrique de la dégénérescence is the debut album by the French black metal band Peste Noire...
s studio version) and on "La Césarienne" (on Folkfuck FolieFolkfuck FolieFolkfuck folie is the second album by French black metal band Peste Noire. This album features the first four tracks of the Lorraine rehearsal EP re-recorded, re-interpreted and re-worked....
), the only song Neige ever wrote for Peste Noire, session live rhythm guitarist. (Neige is in AlcestAlcestAlcest is a musical project born in Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France. It began in 2000 with three members – Neige, Aegnor and Argoth. This band released a demo of black metal songs in 2001. Shortly after, Aegnor and Argoth left the band, leaving Neige as the sole member...
, AmesoeursAmesoeursAmesoeurs was a French post-punk/black metal band formed in Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France in Summer 2004 by guitarist/vocalist Neige of Alcest fame, and by bassist/singer Audrey Sylvain and guitarist Fursy Teyssier with the purpose of creating a music that reflects the dark side of the industrial era...
, Lantlôs, Phest, ex-Mortifera) - Argoth (2001–2002)- bass on Aryan Supremacy (demo 2001) and Mémoire Païenne (split demo 2002)(ex-AlcestAlcestAlcest is a musical project born in Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France. It began in 2000 with three members – Neige, Aegnor and Argoth. This band released a demo of black metal songs in 2001. Shortly after, Aegnor and Argoth left the band, leaving Neige as the sole member...
) - Winterhalter (2006–2008)- drums on La Sanie des sièclesLa Sanie des siècles - Panégyrique de la dégénérescenceLa Sanie des siècles – Panégyrique de la dégénérescence is the debut album by the French black metal band Peste Noire...
, Lorraine Rehearsal (10' LP) and Folkfuck FolieFolkfuck FolieFolkfuck folie is the second album by French black metal band Peste Noire. This album features the first four tracks of the Lorraine rehearsal EP re-recorded, re-interpreted and re-worked....
, session live drums. (also in AmesoeursAmesoeursAmesoeurs was a French post-punk/black metal band formed in Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France in Summer 2004 by guitarist/vocalist Neige of Alcest fame, and by bassist/singer Audrey Sylvain and guitarist Fursy Teyssier with the purpose of creating a music that reflects the dark side of the industrial era...
, Bahrrecht, Phobos) - Ragondin (2009)- bass guitar on Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor
- Andy Julia (2009) - drums (also in Darvulia, Nuit Noire, ex-CelestiaCelestia (band)Celestia is a black metal band from Avignon, France, formed in 1995 by Noktu. Nowadays Noktu is the only remaining original member.Celestia remained in the demo stage until around 1999 when they released the EP "A Cave Full of Bats" through Drakkar Productions with a line-up consisting of Noktu ...
) on Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor
Session members
- Noktu (2003)- bass (CelestiaCelestia (band)Celestia is a black metal band from Avignon, France, formed in 1995 by Noktu. Nowadays Noktu is the only remaining original member.Celestia remained in the demo stage until around 1999 when they released the EP "A Cave Full of Bats" through Drakkar Productions with a line-up consisting of Noktu ...
, Genocide Kommando, Gestapo 666, Mortifera)
External links
- Interview with La sale Famine de Valfunde of the French Black Metal band Peste Noire, Diabolical Conquest: Underground Extreme Metal Webzine, USA, August 12 2009
- Remarks on the Politics of Black Metal: Peste Noire, by Dr Benjamin Noys (University of Chichester, England). Paper presented in absentia at the Hideous Gnosis Black Metal Theory Symposium in Brooklyn (USA), 12 December 2009