Darkness. Weariness. A grey horizon beyond which no one hopes to see the sun shine again. DEMANDE À LA POUSSIÈRE is the soundtrack of this slow depression that walks alongside us every day, even though we keep a smile on our faces. At the crossroads of Black Metal, Doom and Sludge, the Parisian combo releases its second album "Quiétude Hostile", eight tracks of primitive and soily sounds with abrasive and bitter lyrics, between which, coming out of the darkness, we can glimpse some scarce rays of light. Their newest album, titled "Quietude Hostile," contains eight tracks.

"Léger Goût De Soufre" opens the album. It opens with screaming...then a wicked electronic sound. Heavy, weighted guitars punish you. I am not entirely sure what I am listening to here. It's unique, and vastly depressing. "Morpheme" begins with slow, blowing winds and some clean guitars. Heavy distorted guitars are next...as it pauses for a few tense moments. The vocals are absolutely vile and tortured, as is the music...droning for what seems like days.

"Éréthisme" opens with fat bass notes and then the drums come pounding in. The guitars are quite dissonant, and make a good pairing with the vocals. So far, there are no rays of light coming through on the album. On the contrary, it's bleak and void. The title track opens with some light percussion and some clean guitars. Soon enough come the heavy guitar strikes, and unrelenting harsh vocals. The thick bass guitars lurk in the darkness like a three-headed monster, unleashing a thick, poisonous ooze over everything. "Perdu" is over seven-minutes in length...opening with clean guitars and nefarious background tones, it reminds me of visiting Pripyat, and the feeling of coming into contact with thousands of ghosts, there to greet you with the fingers and toes of those who died there. Very creepy.

"Bois De Justice" begins with a slow grind of heavy guitars, bass and drums, with more tortured vocals. The pacing alters here between a lumbering vision and more faster moving parts. The spoken words add a more harrowing element to the track. It ends in a crescendo of madness. "L'Oubli Du Contrasté" begins with some clean guitars that are almost jovial...until the screams come in along with pounding drums. The clean guitars make a brief return after the half-way mark, but this is indeed just a fleeting glimmer of a ray of light.

"Expiravit" closes the album...a nine-minute opus. It is three minutes in before any kind of real sound develops, led by chunky bass notes. I was wondering when I might hear the guest saxophonist, and then poof, there he is, just playing a tune while the world crashes around him, as if he was the musical trio that continued to play while the Titanic sank. He brings the totally dejected affair to completion.

This album was indeed an amalgam of several styles. Probably mostly Doom at its core, it is the kind of album that digs at you at first, then seeks to drive you mad. Once you turn the corner, there is no going back. It's like opening the coveted Book of the Dead...you are forever tainted. You wander mindlessly for the rest of your life, without any memories, including who you are as a person. A risk for the listener...this is about as bleak as it gets.