Published: August 17, 2014

The eight o'clock; the thermometer twenty degrees and points. The muddy look and mood in socks, wander in the subway tunnels. Start a new day and head painfully did the work. Hot caffeinated and my fellow travelers overwhelms me breathless. However, a cold chill up my picks. The 'Sørbyen' effect, the second album from unique project of musician Steven Le Moan: Netra. 

An excursion in the depths of unhealthy cities; Giant iron, concrete and bricks. A gloomy, depressing and oppressive journey. 's not easy to classify the proposal of "one man band" French. His record label, Hypnotic Dirge Records, characterizes it as a band that sails between Jazz, Black Metal and Trip-Hop. Notable also add touches of Dark metal (Bethlehem in the last decade), DSBM and Electro. Steven Le Moan plays with styles, mixing influences, and lays bare the foundations of the most extreme metal. Black lovers more conventional metal it will fail: 

'Netra' is undoubtedly a work for more open minds. In the first part, and then the song "A Dance with the Asphalt" perfect blend of metal and Trip- Dark Hop by way of introduction, Netra take the time to develop a raw and cold environment. The contemplative "Sørbyen" is a perfect example. This harshness and coldness, is the very personal vision of a French artist who moved to Norway for professional reasons. Y 'Sørbyen', a diary of your stay. The album gives off a smell of nostalgia and sadness, boredom and discouragement we can experience in big cities in the winter. "Emlazh", the sixth track (one of my favorites), marks a change of course. The rawness gives way to an increasingly confusing structures. The influences of Trip-Hop did evolve much more Electro ("Strange Bliss at Dusk"), and touches of Dark metal ("To Kill for a Hug") give way to much more blackers dyes ("Concrete Ocean"). "Shall I Slay the Monkeys" with its Blast beats and shouts of Steven Le Moan: an obvious nod to the black art. 

The second album from Netra ('Mélancolie Urbaine', the debut was released in 2010) is a truly original, alternating violence and calm, songs structured and restless compositions complete work. journey is long: more than an hour before arriving at my place Work. Over an hour (seventy minutes to be exact) is the duration of 'Sørbyen'. A large album, but that nothing is boring. Netra got grab my attention, making my morning routine into an experience. The purists and elitists throw overboard this work. For my part, made ​​me want to drag my poor housing, loitering in the depths of a dark, cold city of northern Europe, and abandoning alcohol and the first to cross my path courtesan.