Black Metal band HOULE formed in France in 2021. This is their debut EP, which has four songs. "Le Continent" is first. Waves crash in the ocean, followed by warning bells, and then comes the main riff, raggedy and hasty. The vocals are nasty shrieks, but the song isn't without some touches of melody to go along with the anguished torture. The ending sequence is ambient and somber. "Au Loin La Tempete" is just under ten-minutes in length. Calm, easy tones open the song, with a touch of melancholy. Total chaos follows after the two-minute mark, along with harsh vocals and some spoken words. The sound is as raging as it is desolate. A long ambient passage occupies the mid-section of the song, where despondent elements come through even stronger, and it cools down even further at the end.

"La Derniere Traversee" opens with more sounds from the ocean, particularly seagulls calling and soft waves. Off in the distance, you can see a storm brewing however. When it arrives, it is dark and violent. It rages for what seems like days without relenting. The vocals then change to clean screams, if you can imagine that, but the song is still at full throttle. "Sous I'Astre Noir" closes the album; a shorter offering with plenty of bite. Lead guitars screech over deathly vocals, followed by more spoken words. There is a slight reprieve around the half-way mark, where somber tones take over, but it's soon back to the chaos.

Overall, this was a promising release. I was happy that the band didn't rest solely on the FWOBM influence which were obviously present, but didn't take over the sound. They also experimented a bit, and I feel like some more songs and we would have even more variation. So, true to the genre, but also exploratory.