This is the second album of SORTILÈGE, the French heavy metal band from the suburbs of Paris that formed in 1981 that I’m reviewing in the last two weeks for METAL TEMPLE. The album "Métamorphose" (released November 11, 2023) is a reissue originally released in 1984 on the French label Devil’s Records and is a continuation of their self-titled debut EP released in 1983. “With this album, were taking it up a notch technically and gaining in musical maturity. Our style was asserting itself, and the public was following us more and more” guitarist Didier Demajean explains. Their record company suggested that they also release an English version to reach a more international audience, but that plan did not translate into album sales outside of France. My review of their debut EP (Metal Temple January 2, 2023) was less than stellar giving it a 3 out of 10. The music was loud and tormenting, the vocals were distressing and the production was brutal with a capital B, but I will go into this review with an open mind and I’ll wipe the slate clean. I’m definitely not crazy about the task ahead with eighteen songs all in French, but “apportez-le”, that’s French for “bring it on”.

I think the best and maybe easiest way to handle this review is to highlight the positives in the deserving songs, rather than dwell on the negative, which hopefully won’t outnumber the good. Well, right off the bat, the production and mixing are much cleaner than on the debut EP that I reviewed last week, most notably the vocals are not as overpowering allowing the music to accentuate. “Majesté” has a really nice riff and simmering guitar solo midway through to deliver an overall rocking song, “Hymne à la Mort” is a slower paced, semi-ballad melody that that blend nicely with the edgy and gritty vocals, “Nuit des Limbes” is a guitar dominated instrumental that showcase the musical prowess of the band without the vocals getting in the way. “Cyclope de l'Etang” is a hard rocking song driven by whipping riffs and the best vocal delivery so far with dirty screams reminiscent of an early Rob Halford, matched with savage guitar licks. ”Métamorphose” has a nice blend of classic riffs and steady backbeat cohesive to tight brazen vocals. The best way to summarize the remaining nine tracks, which all had a “bootleg” sound (back to bad production) is that there were moments of some nice rocking riffs and melodies unfortunately the cacophonous mixture of the vocals led to a topsy-turvy overall sound, even though there were hints of SCORPIONS, IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST and MANOWAR trying hard to peek thru.

Yes, I was harsh on both my reviews of SORTILÈGE. I did try and find more good than bad, but the poor production on the majority of the album certainly did not help matters with no real consistency and all the songs in French sure didn’t help either. Musically they offer enough but the entire package falls short. The band reunited in 2021 helmed by original vocalist Christian Augustin (the only original member returning) and released “Phoenix” an album consisting of primarily re-recorded tracks from past albums, as well as two new songs and announced their new album, “Apocalypso”, would be released in March 2024, so with today’s masterful studio technology available, maybe, just maybe they can teach an old dog new tricks, call me crazy but I actually welcome a chance to review the new album with their new line up and hopefully new direction.