Gros Enfant Mort
Photo Cred 📷 : @oni_bakku
The French have a rich and impressive history when it comes to heavy music. From Anomie to I Am A Curse, the country has produced some of the genres’ finest and most passionate artists. Gros Enfant Mort however is a newer spin on the time honored tradition of French Emotional Hardcore. The band is the single minded effort of drummer Alexis Johk, formerly of Emo Punk outfit “Johk”.
With Gros Enfant Mort however, Alexis explores the darker and heavier side of Emo. Opening track “La ruine” has all the pieces of what makes French Screamo so unique, the ambient and gripping guitar tone driven forward by tightly wound drumming and crackling shouts that lead to slower Post-Hardcore caked moments of scaling catharsis. “Egotropisme” is riddled with dark and depressive imagery, lyrically as dark as anything else on the album, it sets itself apart by churning slowly into a full wind up of charging guitars, screams and drums conjuring the claustrophobic desperation of living upon the Clain. Multiple moments on “Les Années Vides” make you forget that this is all one person.
The precise orchestration of everything falling into each section of the song feels like multiple people tapping into something special, let alone a single person composing all of this on their own. Album finale “L’enfer C’est Vieillir” mimics the slow walk into dusk, with a single guitar driving the beginning of the track. Alexis joins in opening on people who have helped him and his failure at sharing his gratitude for them as a thumping drum interlude unlocks a discordant bridge of a soaring riff resplendent with hope plucked quickly into silence as he shouts: On laissera tomber toutes nos chimères quand retentira le dernier accord.
Despondent, bleak, heavy and wracked with the anxieties of the modern world Gros Enfant Mort’s self-titled is something we thoroughly enjoyed and resonated with. We look forward to the new releases coming in the future.
Check out their Bandcamp here : Gros Enfant Mort
Writer : @letsgetpivotal
Editor : @just_reidz
09/12/22
