Album Review: Zeicrydeus - La Grande Hérésie
Reviewed by Sam Jones
Chthe’ilist. Atramentus. Now we have Zeicrydeus, with the first full length album of this project launched by Quebecois artist Philippe Allaire-Tougas who, through his past efforts, has become something of a reverential figure in French Canadian extreme metal. Zeicrydeus began in 2018 and though many of Tougas’ previous efforts have been more death metal-oriented, what helps this project stand apart from the rest is an acutely more focused black metal soundscape which we’ll delve further into. I’d actually discovered Zeicrydeus previously and checked out a few pieces off this very record via Bandcamp but I jumped at the chance to review it officially. Seven years on from its formation, Tougas prepares to unleash the first Zeicrydeus material: La Grande Hérésie. Curiously this record sees the lyrical lore established across Chthe’ilist and Atramentus material continued, wherein Tougas establishes his own interconnected store of ideas and no doubt we shall wonder where he will leave us towards the end of this record. As a one-band, Phil Tougas has complete control and say over everything that goes on here and it’s been some time since I checked out such a band. Primed for a June 30th release date and distributed via Productions TSO, I was more than prepared for see where Tougas’ talent would take me next.
Part of Tougas’ various bands has always been the atmosphere, whether he implement dread, abstract horror or, in this case, an ethereal miasma. The record is coated in it, this eldritch, corporeal tone that gives a semblance of spectral wonder to its identity. With plenty of time given to each track Zeicrydeus ensure the mood is always present across the record whether that be via instrumentation or the synth work permeating the background. What I do like however is the restraint; naturally it could have been easy to just lay it on thick with the atmospheric quality but its interspersed just enough that you understand the vibe Zeicrydeus are working towards without it having to be slapped in your face. Aiding the atmosphere is the production; this sounds exactly like how a retro VHS recording would sound; there’s this grainy, vintage, distorted film coating the record whereby it doesn’t come off as cheap or aspiring for imitation. It’s a genuinely believable record where one, should they be unfamiliar with Zeicrydeus beforehand, may mistake it as an early work of 90s black metal.
Another reason why this record feels so easy to listen to, in spite of its firm black metal aesthetic, lies with the guitar work. Observe the pacing and you’l find Tougas isn’t attempting to play you off the record with astonishing speed; his riffs are fast-paced but never will they threaten to leave you behind. Then there’s the guitar tone which is a wondrous surprise as its steadier tempo enables the riffs to sport this mystique, this dark art, with room to breathe and manoeuvre. The guitar work never feels hemmed in and thus we’re able to experience it for everything that Tougas intended it to do; yet there’s this additionally sublime, smooth texture to the guitar work as one sequence organically folds for the next. Given the keenly old school production applied herein, it ironically helps licks and guitar solos to strike us more keenly than had Zeicrydeus opted for a more modern application. Don’t get me wrong I’m all for today’s production standards but you can’t go wrong with dirtying your record, applying a skin of life over its presence as if we’re just unearthing it at last.
There’s a quality present here, as is present across Chthe’ilist and Atramentus: gravitas. Each of these bands, now including Zeicrydeus, don’t merely have music for you to discover, but they are entire worlds, entire storylines awaiting to be uncovered and experienced by you for the first time. I absolutely adore the level of planning that goes into this kind of presentation; its not the most obvious kind of presentation either for it doesn’t establish itself at every moment, it takes maybe a whole track’s worth of build-up, development, entertainment before that grand pay off reveals itself. Take the climax of the track “Profane Spells & Naked Swords In The Emerald Meadows Of Nhaath”, its this two-minute closing piece that sees the song’s prior evolution come to a head not with explosive zeal but this cathartic, triumphant bellowing as drums crash, synths sing and the guitar climb unto lofty heights. It is absolutely goosebumps-inducing, the hair rising upon your arms; it really is that kind of “Behold and be in awe” that not much extreme metal tries doing. As a result it sets the precedent that there may yet be much still to discover worth our while, painting the upcoming rest of the record in exciting, positive light. There’s come a point what listening to this record that you forget you’re experiencing a blackened-leaning album; all the niceties are there, all the minutiae that would otherwise remind you this is black metal however that’s never the case with Zeicrydeus. Yes, this record has an astonishing level of presence with a grandiosity you can’t ignore but you never feel weighed down by it, nor will you feel like Zeicrydeus try too hard to make their impact felt. Its all extremely organic.
As we’ve touched upon, Tougas likes to make sure every aspect of his performance is captured and experienced by the audience (he is the sole member so can you blame him?). However I adore what he’s done with the bass here; across the mix the bass isn’t too high which is likely what aids in the band’s lighter, ghostly soundscape, but I highly respect how Zeicrydeus makes a point to remind us just how beautiful the bass is because we may forget at times how fruitful an instrument it can be. The number of bass solos waiting for people may surprise some as there’s more than just the one thrown in for the sake of variety. Owing to the thicker tone, these bass tracks lend a more transient quality to Zeicrydeus’ songwriting, removing us from regular planes we’re familiar with and dunk us into more abstract realms where we’d not quite sure what’s happening next. But its this serene tone that brings the bass beyond the trundling, passive force we may associate it with, bringing with it a new light and life force to the foremost breadth of the stage. Zeicrydeus is steeped in retro black metal however do not let that moniker deter you from one of 2025’s mot beautiful extreme metal triumphs.
In conclusion, Zeicrydeus’ full album is already available on Bandcamp however that should not mean we do not venture to find a physical copy of this record, supporting Phil Togas with this due work under the Zeicrydeus name. What Zeicrydeus sport here is absolutely golden quality black metal where, a short while after starting, you will flat out forget this is a black metal release and simply bask in the majesty it effortlessly throws your way. This is the kind of black metal I adore, where planes of grounded reality are shown for the shifting, interlocking phantasms they are, where Satan isn’t the key behind the record but something more fantastical, older, everlasting, enduring. Though you can pick up on the evil inherent within the record, I love how open-armed Tougas was in demonstrating the beauty behind such a work of black metal, how his songwriting once more generates its own gravitation, pulling you in, binding you to its progression before unleashing all its accumulated presence before you. Many debut albums try to fit within this carefully, time-secured prism of what it should sound like, ticking boxes off a clipboard. Not Zeicrydeus, this is a band that kicks the walls down and shows you just what you’re missing. La Grande Hérésie deserves all the praise it will inevitably receive, a soaring, reaving experience that takes you beyond the veil and back out again. Simply sublime.
