Mourir // Nous, Le Venin // EP Review

This Black Metal creation was initially created in 2016 in Toulouse by Olivier Lolmède – who, with Plebeian Grandstand, recorded a 5-track release along with a limited number of cassettes and titled the one-man project Vermine.

The reaction to the project was encouraging, so a full band was formed, and the now four-piece evolved into Mourir, with their first EP released in 2020.

The progress of the evolved collective continued and led to more live performances alongside the debut album release in 2022 – Disgrâce, before a line-up change in 2024, and now this new EP of 6 tracks that span around 41 minutes.

Mourir are a new band to me; Black Metal is not, and I always think that Black Metal has many subgenres and levels of Blackness. Nous, Le Venin is up there with the darkest and most despairing types of Back Metal and the sort that just drips with pain and agony. You will not feel uplifted in any way, shape, or form when you have listened to this.

Simply, this sound will latch onto any negativity and questions you have about things and slowly start the decay process as everything fades to a deeper shade of black, any colours become greyscale and you lose any perspective on positivity or reality.

The pain and anguish that flows through the music is an experience, and you immediately relate to those feelings and get taken back to unprocessed trauma as that black cloud returns and hovers over your head, and you can’t shift it.

Some people would wonder why on earth anyone would want to listen to such music but the cathartic effect of relating to such feelings and emotions can be so powerful and can also be the only outlet for some. Some gain comfort in not being alone through the despair, and that is where Mourir come in.

This release has all the trademarks of atmospheric black metal, with some funeral in there in places, and it grips you from the off. You end up on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, but afterwards you will feel better – fucking exhausted but better. This is like a therapy session!!

The sound, the effects, the vocals are all of a great standard and allow for that full immersion into this release, and whilst not for those who are looking at just getting into Black Metal, this is one for those who are happy to venture into the darker side of blackness.

Nous, Le Venin is out now via Pelagic Records.

Review: Ed Ford

Order now: https://orcd.co/mourir-nlv