Saturday, October 22, 2011

Sed Non Satiata - 2005 Le ciel de notre enfance


Band : Sed Non Satiata
Album : Le ciel de notre enfance
Release Year : 2005
Genre : Screamo | Post-Rock

Tracklist :
1. Moi Le Premier
2. Spirit Fuel
3. En Attendant L'Aube
4. Hypocrisie Des Sentiments
5. Urgent D'Attendre

Sed Non Satiata’s album Le Ciel De Notre Enfance is honestly one of the most promising and finest pieces of emotional hardcore of the last 5-10 years. Their sound is actually not that hard to describe: imagine the European sound as described in the above paragraph plus a hefty love for Japanese emo titans Envy. The result is 5 tracks of epic, dissonant, brutal yet beautiful music. An essential factor in what makes so Le Ciel De Notre Enfance such a masterpiece is the way it is recorded and mixed. As song as the opening lines of “Moi Le Premier” begin to wash over your ears, you are enveloped. The guitars intertwine, the bass is thick, the drums pound away, the keyboard line weaves in and out of the dueling guitars. Then the vocals enter, abrupt yet most certainly powerful. The emotion behind the singer’s voice is undeniable, as he screams and yelps his way over equally dissonant duel guitar work. Another defining factor of Le Ciel De Notre Enfance is the dual guitar interplay, much like the defining dual guitar work of obvious influence Envy. “Spirit Fuel” begins with a single dissonant chord being played repeatedly and then explodes into heavy bass and discord. The song pummels along and ends in bursts of chaotic vocals, delay-ridden guitars and syncopated drum hits. By the end of the second track, Sed Non Satiata’s sound has been established. The way the instrumental section works together so perfectly, how everything is layered so perfectly and how the vocals fit the music so perfectly, as if battling with the instrumental prowess yet simultaneously complimenting the music so well.

And as if the first two tracks were ambitious enough, Sed Non Satiata splits the album in half with a seven-minute instrumental, and an extremely formidable one at that. “En Attendant L’aube” is a beautiful foray into the realm of post-rock/instrumental music. It has the soft to loud dynamic changes, a shimmering lead line and overall stunning instrumentation and an epic feel. Halfway through Le Ciel De Notre Enfance, if you are not yet floored, I wouldn’t hesitate in calling you a liar. But the album’s momentum does not trail off and at once, “Hypocrisie Des Sentiments” begins much like “Spirit Fuel,” though with a much more mellow chord repetition. “Hypocrisie Des Sentiments” follows the same structure as “Spirit Fuel,” exploding into heavy open chords, pounding bass and jarring dissonance thanks to the signature duel guitar work. Clocking in at 1:58, “Hypocrisie Des Sentiments” is Le Ciel De Notre Enfance’s shortest track but nevertheless packs just as much of a punch as any other track on the album. Without notice, “Urgent D’Attendre” begins with feedback, quick drumming and frantic screams. The song’s main progression is a standard, last track, epic progression but “Urgent D’Attendre” does not fail to deliver. In addition to an impressive clean vocal movement, the song explodes into its final movement, featuring tempo changes and full out chaos. And as the last chord rings out and it seems all is well, the album ends with an evil and ominous sounding riff and pained screams.

Le Ciel De Notre Enfance is short but sweet, and one of the most exciting pieces of music put forth from either the American or European emo scene in years. Ambitious, youthful, dissonant, beautiful, epic, chaotic, bliss. I honestly can not help but to simply shower praise for this album. Although I am a big fan of Envy, I truly believe anyone can appreciate both the fantastic and intricate musicianship and the cathartic feel which the music so perfectly conveys. There is something for everyone here and fans of European emo or just new and inventive emo will find no trouble delighting in the superb chunk of music offered on Le Ciel De Notre Enfance. The only faults I can find with the album are it’s length (it's too short!) and the clean vocals on “Urgent D’Attendre” are a bit too gimmicky/cliché emo. But the good by far outweighs the minor faults with the album and I can say that it has been quite some time since I have been so engaged with an album and I have never been more excited to see what this band will offer up next. Let’s just hope they can overcome the ridiculous emo band cliché and breakup once they realized they have hit their pinnacle.






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