Déviante
Some of you might already have read our interview with Justine Daaé here. She is the vocalist and mastermind behind Elyose, one of the most exciting French metal projects which already exists since 2009. Sadly, the French metal scene is somewhat underrated though the quality of the bands is mostly outstanding. Beside many other subjects, we were talking about Elyose’s latest release Déviante.
Finest French Metal
“Déviante” is Elyose‘s fifth studio album and was released on February 9th, 2023. The album is a sophisticated mix between Modern Metal and Nu Goth with a touch of Metalcore; all lyrics come in French. It contains nine brand new songs plus one ‘radio mix’. This reminds me a bit of the good, old vinyl days when a record barely usually lasted 40 minutes divided in ten songs. There was no place for fillers to extend the album to fourteen or more songs as so often nowadays. And that’s exactly what Justine said about Déviante in our interview: “I believe there are no fillers at all in this album!” Let us now come to the songs. We will go through each one of them. The first one is called:
“Ils t’Ont Dit”
It translates as “They told you”. Rough guitars rule. Justine’s clear vocals take over. The influence of Metalcore already is undeniable. It is a very refreshing and powerful song with a surprising spoken passage after about three minutes. I can tell you that I like the song, it is a very promising opener!
“Le Glaive”
This song is sharp as a blade, the blade of “The Sword”. Less aggressive with its keyboard beginning and more on the mythical metal side. To me it sounds like a storytelling. Tension builds up and explodes during the chorus without losing control. “Le Glaive” is a very melodic Nu Metal song with excellent guitar and keyboard working together.
“Vendredi Noir”
This is the third video-single of Déviante. Are you ready for a “Friday Night” out? Take care of the police-woman, I recommend to watch the video while listening to the song. It sounds a bit like a sibling of the previous track, maybe the elder sister or brother. There seems to be a bit of a Sisters Of Mercy influence in the background choir, especially during the chorus. Lovely!
“L’Emblème”
Back to pure, brutal and rough guitar chords like Thor’s hammer. “The Emblem” blows you away with its roughness, only to have its sweet clear vocals bring you back to real life. I wasn’t sure how this combination fits together in the first place but the more I listened to the song the more familiar I became with it. It certainly is a very clever arranged true gem on the very rough edge of Déviante which invites you to dive deep into it.
“Retour au reel”
Let’s go “Back To Reality” with the next track after returning from our dive. Beginning with a synthesizer and a solo choir voice it soon is controlled by impulsive guitars, drums and bass and the synths just underline it. Together with the clean vocals they all demand what the song is about, getting back to reality. Side fact: It was the first video of Déviante and the video is kind of self-explaining, give it a try.
“Humaine”
Aren’t we all “Human”? I know, not all of us would agree at this point. But I am pretty sure everybody will agree on the quality of the song. Very Gothic influence, it could well be a title track of a Gothic opera or musical. So far it is the most outstanding song for my taste of music. Of course this is a subjective point of view but isn’t all taste of music subjective anyway?
“Déviante”
We are now coming to the title track of the album. “Deviant” means someone who does not follow normally expected behavior and nor does the song. No more explanation required, listen to the song and you will understand what I mean, once again an excellent piece of music!
“L’Assemblée” (feat. Cocozher)
It really is “The Assembly” because it features none less then Out of My Eyes’ vocalist Cocozher as guest musician. Have I told you that I like duets, especially when the male vocals are on the rough and the female ones come on the clean side? And Cocozher’s growls are very rough or even harsh! No wonder I like this little gem so much and highly recommend it if you want to know what the sound of Elyose is standing for.
“De La Lune À La Terre”
We are now coming to the last original song. As a surprise, it is much softer than the previous tracks. In a manner of speaking, it is the ballad of the album, though ‘ballad’ is not giving the right justice to the way “From Moon to Earth”. It is soft and rough, tender and hard as chrome at once. I would call it a perfect power-ballad.
“Retour Au Reel” (Radio Mix)
I will not tell you which version I like more. Both are worth listening and both are different without selling the souls of the song. Decide for yourself. Do you prefer the extended original version or do you prefer the more essential radio mix?
France, twelve points
How can I judge this album? Can I judge it at all? I think I can and personally agree with Justine’s statement about the album. Indeed, there are no fillers. All songs are killers. Each one of them is a little gem created by an incredible artist and her team being Elyose. The album proves that no one needs a fourteen-songs-album half-full of fillers with only two or three really outstanding songs. If it was an ESC-song, I would judge “France twelve points”! Elyose for ESC!!!
Tracklist:
01. Ils t’ont dit
02. Le glaive
03. Vendredi noir
04. L’emblème
05. Retour au réel
06. Humaine
07. Déviante
08. L’assemblée (feat. Cocozher)
09. De la lune à la terre
10. Retour au réel (Radio Mix)
Credits:
Music and lyrics by Justine Daaé, Anthony Chognard and Jean-Baptiste Thomas-Sertillanges
Mixed by Anthony Chognard (C.H.S Prod)
Mastered by Kris Crummett
Artwork illustrated by Mythrid Art
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Proof reading by DermimBoad
Photos taken during the video shot of “Vendredi noir”, property of Justine Daaé