Asylum Pyre - 2023 - Call Me Inhuman

(54:47; Ellie Promotion)

Track list:
1. Virtual Guns 6:27
2. Fighters 3:52
3. The True Crown (I Seek Your War) 4:48
4. Happy Deathday 4:04
5. There, I Could Die 3:58
6. Sand Paths 5:34
7. The Nowhere Dance 3:57
8. A Teacher, A Scientist & A Diplomat 4:22
9. Underneath Heartskin 4:14
10. The Mad Fiddler 4:46
11. Joy 6:10
12. Call Me Inhuman 2:35

Line-up:
Ombeline Duprat - vocals
Johann Cadot - vocals, guitars, keyboards, loops
Pierre-Emmanuel Pélisson - guitars
Fabien Mira - bass
Thomas Calegari – drums


French band Asylum Pyre has been a going entity for 20 years, and following an initial demo back in 2007 the band have released studio albums from 2009 and onward at a fairly steady pace. The band have five full length productions to their name at the time of writing. "Call Me Inhuman" is the most recent of these, and was released through French label Ellie Promotion in the spring of 2023.

Asylum Pyre as of 2023 is one of those bands that will make critics and reviewers like myself scratch their heads just a little bit. This is because we do tend to prefer to write about bands that explore a specific subset of music or a specific direction within a style, as that makes the task of describing the music so much easier. In this case we are dealing with a band that is both expressive and inclusive, and also a band that are able to create material spanning multiple directions and orientations with relative ease.

The most defining feature throughout is the use of elements from folk music. We find them in the vocal melody lines and in many of the instrument motifs as both dominant and supporting features. We also get some folk music instruments chiming in here and there, with the bagpipes as the most dominant of these in terms of having an audible and easy to hear presence. The majority of those impulses stay within the Celtic traditions, but with some tribal elements tossed in here and there, and then in particular in the vocal department.

That being said, this isn't an album that can be categorized in a strict folk metal context as such. The material certainly has a folk metal orientation and undercurrent, but it is not a dominant orientation even if it is just about ever present, as this element will have a secondary and supportive function just as much as a dominant one.

Many of the songs feature power metal elements to some extent, most often as recurring expansions to the composition and sometimes also as one of two or more alternating forms explored. Classic era power metal and a more contemporary oriented and energetic variety of the form are both present here, and we also get some examples of power metal combined with symphonic metal flavoring. That we also get sections with a bit more of a symphonic metal intent in other phases merits a mention of course, but again this is a case of a style rarely explored in a dominant and defining manner.

That we have several more traditional heavy metal sections explored in a more contemporary manner with different variations of seasoning from the style variations explored is the last aspect I feel the need to detail here, but in addition I can mention that those fond of tracking down genre elements of different kinds in the music they listen to will have a field day with this album. And a busy one at that.

Further expanding the landscapes explore here are atmospheric laden elements and interludes, and clever and efficient use of electronic music elements is a part of the total experience here as well. The latter detail adds a bit of an emphasis to the contemporary sounding nature of this album as a total experience, in a fine case of electronic details used to enhance metal compositions in a logical and organic manner that feels very natural indeed.

"Call Me Inhuman" is a high quality production on all levels, where the songwriting and performances have a solid quality while the mix and production manages to retain the quality and emphasize the contemporary nature of the material. In terms of comparisons I'd say that the mood and atmosphere of this album gave me occasional associations to a band like Nightwish, but where the style, form and execution is at times markedly different. One aspect that both bands share is a certain progressive intent in the manner that the compositions are structured and executed, in this case perhaps more because of the expressive and inclusive nature of the compositions as a whole.

If a solid and well made example of contemporary metal where folk, symphonic and power metal escapades are used as the key components in an inclusive, expressive and sophisticated variety of metal explored with a little bit of a progressive swagger sounds like an interesting proposition for you, then this is an album that merits a listen. Probably a few listens actually, as this is an album it will take a little bit of effort to get familiar with.

Olav M. Björnsen, March 2023

Links:
http://www.asylumpyre.com/
http://elliepromotion.com/