Sade
Paragon Impure
Born in 2004. Buried alive in 2009. Resurrected in 2018. Belgian Black Metallers PARAGON IMPURE are set on spewing forth blasphemy and perversion again! The new and second full length "Sade" will be unleashed via Ván Records on 2nd November. In December 2017 and after eight years of silence, Noctiz (the project's founder and driving force) breathed new life into PARAGON IMPURE and teamed up with drummer Svein (LUGUBRUM) to prepare for the re-recordings of the second album, which wasn't completed in 2009 due to technical and personal setbacks. Thus, the initially entitled "The Fall Of Man" transformed into "Sade", a homage to the legacy of Marquis de Sade. PJ Turlinckx became the band's third member and produced "Sade" at his studio, while the mastering was handled by Jéremie Bézier (EMPTINESS, ex-ENTHRONED) at Blackout Studio.
"Let no one accuse me of being evil's apologist; let no one say that I seek to inspire wrongdoing or to blunt remorse in the hearts of wrongdoers: my sole purpose throughout these endeavors is to articulate thoughts which have gnawed at my consciousness since I first was able to reason; that these thoughts might be in conflict with the thoughts of some other persons, or of most other persons except me, is not, I believe, sufficient reason to suppress them. As to those susceptible souls who might be "corrupted" by exposure to my writings, I say, so much the worse for them. I address myself only to men who are capable of examining with an objective eye everything before them. Such men are incorruptible." - Donatien Francois Alphonse de Sade, "La Philosophie dans le Boudoir", 1795
"Sade I: Introduction to the Divine Marquis" is a shorter, mood-setting opener. It sounds like, well, Black Metal...fairly standard and run of the mill. "Sade II: Juliette, the Queen of Vice" is close to ten minutes in length. The vocals are lower growls, and the music is harrowing in scope. The guitars keep a pretty even level throughout the song, establishing that "wall of sound" that is often associated with the genre. They build along the way as the sound changes here and there. "Sade III: Mors in Excelsis Deo" opens with a faster riff that settles pretty quickly into a dissonant groove. It gets fairly scary as the main riff explores a bit, sounding like some ritual sacrifice is about to commence.
"Sade IV: Repentance of a Dying Libertine" is a frightening five minutes in length, with tense guitars and low vocals that sound like they are coming from the Dark Lord himself. The guitar pattern is mesmerizing as it repeats over and over. The final two songs are quite lengthy. "Sade V: Philosophy in the Bedroom" opens with a fairly linear riff and some dogged vocals, before that wall of guitars hit you. It takes a pause around half way through and picks up again, talking about "we must sacrifice everything, to the demands of our senses." "Sade VI: The Final Passion, or the Passion of Hell" closes the album...a twelve-minute beast. As the guitars climb, clawing and scratching to see the light of day, so do the hairs on the back of your neck. It pauses about half way through, with despondent tones, and clean spoken words, and then in spirals to completion.
Overall, I found the album to be fairly run-of-the-mill Black Metal. The album does a nice job of imparting a fair amount of fear and insecurity to the listener. The lower vocals make it a bit unique, instead of the high shrieks. The music however was just average, and there wasn't enough variety from track to track.
5 / 10
Mediocre
Songwriting
Musicianship
Memorability
Production
"Sade" Track-listing:
1. Sade I: Introduction to the Divine Marquis
2. Sade II: Juliette, the Queen of Vice
3. Sade III: Mors in Excelsis Deo
4. Sade IV: Repentance of a Dying Libertine
5. Sade V: Philosophy in the Bedroom
6. Sade VI: The Final Passion, or the Passion of Hell
Paragon Impure Lineup:
Noctiz - Guitars, Bass, Vocals
Svein - Drums
PJ - Production
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