SETH is a Black Metal band from France that formed in 1995. "La morsure du Christ," is their six full length album.  They have also released a demo, an EP, two splits and a live album. " La morsure du Christ," is their first album in eight years. This is my first time hearing them so I don't have any real basis of comparison but I find this to be a solid black metal album with a lot of great things going for it.  What are those things?  Atmosphere, melody, and symphonic. Despite that though, I wouldn't call them atmospheric, melodic, symphonic metal. This is just damn good black metal that does its own thing without conforming to any particular subgenre.

The production is powerful and full but the Saint Vincent's vocals and the guitar tone keep it from being too polished. The drums are robust but the bass does tend to get lost in the mix at times.  Still, this is a great sounding black metal album.  I know that may be blasphemy to the more hardcore fans of the style but they are wrong.  Sorry, not sorry. The title track is up first, firing right out of the gate with fast paced guitar melodies, machine like drums and epic keys.  The vocals are vicious and work alongside the guitar for a double dose of searing pain.  Around the four minute mark, simple put effective keys create a back drop for the vocals while the song grows heavier as the guitars land.

"Sacrifice de Sang," immediately grabbed my attention with the drums and the cold, melodic riffs.  Clean melodies are intertwined and its a nice little attention to detail that makes the song seem more full.  It may start out in a bit of a lull but the song goes through a hyper blast moment where the toms and cymbals stand out before a barrage of riffs drive the mid section through. "Hymne au Vampire (Acte III)" is one of my favorite tracks on the album.  It is energetic and even theatrical in moments, such as the bell tone ringing in the beginning.  The drumming boosts of the vocals at the end of each lyrical stanza, making the song a constant bomb burst that doesn't seem to slow down.  Of course, it does eventually level off at the six minute mark but that's okay because what replaces the blackened carnage is a beautiful clean passage.

The final track, "Le Triomphe de Lucifer," is a somber piece that switches tempo several times, for a track that constantly changes up from one great section to the next. The beginning fast, capturing old school black metal elements.  From there, it goes into an operatic, cathedral passage complete with clean vocal chanting.  After that, it slows down to the somber mood I spoke of earlier. The song fades off around the 3:47 mark with spoken word and ambient clean textures but a primal scream in this moment and the band returns to full speed ahead.

SETH have left quite the impression on me for a band that I have never heard before.  "La Morsure du Christ," is a sterling example of where modern black metal is at and why it is one of the best genres going right now.  They have definitely turned me into a fan and anyone else who is on the fence or hasn't heard them before will no doubt come to their side as well.