BAUDELAIRE-fascinated minds have a special treat to appreciate from MACABRE, the mastermind behind MORTIS MUILATI in a form of a quite compelling blend of French, eroticism and death titled "Mélopée Funèbre"; his third full-length studio release so far. You could see it coming; no doubt Black metal fits such a state of mind like a glove.

What seems like a recycled old ideas redounding on more albums than I can count actually boosts itself listen after listen, a rare feature that distinguishes the best crop of bands on the scene. As the eponymous "Mélopée Funèbre" kicks off on an acoustic somber dance waving in circles, the instruments flavored by female vocals get gradually introduced around effortless vocals, the product coming off as typical and uncreative whereas these female vocals skillfully ornament "Ophélia" countering barely perceptible main vocals in an album mainly thriving on the rhythm section and well coordinated chords bearing a certain resemblance to another French Black Metal act I genuinely  appreciate - SETH - despite the discordance in tempo and scales between the two acts.

That said, "Vénus Anadyomène" is more of a Black metal track in essence than the doom-ish "Mélopée Funèbre", in the main tempo speaking. That said, the double pedal beats are confined to a relatively comfortable pace till the point of simulating a Melodic Death structure at some given dots. Over and above, bearing it in mind being a one-man act (well in other words, the lone wolf approach either natural or deliberate) emerges the downside that's there's a little chance any given individual can be as versatile as required, thus the importance of task relegating.

Further dissection brings to view a ceaseless en boucle main riff each time explored differently from tremolo to fingering, yet with the constancy of the menacing mood of the vocals if they come from deep within a remote source. While the keyboards kept as a subordinate accessory until the end, they come off as ear candy in nature but not striking enough. Apart from the forcibly inserted church organ on "Reliquae", they bring the plus when the track drags on and on chewing the same chords with different flavors. On the same page, the lack of variety in "Morte" doesn't reach the point of exhaustion, and despite it being technically mediocre (mainly pointing at the out of place tapping), the soft touch manifesting through a low tempo as well as a pure and simple acoustic interlude, somehow manages to satisfy and I mean it.

What catches attention is that each track conveys a different state of mind despite the pre-fixed song structure for all tracks; thus behold the power of the scale. Take for example "Oraison Du Soir" hitting on a baroque fashion scale-wise all while keeping the same chordal layout, and to give it the deserved credit, it's one of those songs you strangely wish they never end - I'm pretty sure we've all come across one of those during our lifetime!

Unlike much of the drum-based Black Metal material out on the scene, the drums on the "Mélopée Funèbre" album for once let go of the lead only to retrieve it on the last set of tracks mainly mentioning "Reliquae", thus making up for the meager guitar "solos", as well as "Fingers Of Death" literally invaded by drums generating a more traditional sound. Otherwise, in between both extremities come the soft double bass drums of "Eros & Thanatos" as a compromise, although the track had the guitar chords as a pillar. Anyway, the scales vividly put across the touch of an artist, principally the baroque-influenced keyboards added to a hazy interlude of erotic and agonic moans blending the essence of the high EROS and the agonic THANATOS at a time in a brilliantly confusing move.

In a nutshell, "Mélopée Funèbre" enables the listener to picture in mind the world MACABRE has painted for himself, as a few listens make you get the point of a rather unique sound crafted by an artist at a peace mode with gloom and death themes lyrically and musically speaking.