Album Review: Igorrr - Amen
Reviewed by Oli Gonzalez
What’s the first thing you think of when you think of France? Maybe it’s the endless indulgent cuisine, or the striking images of the Eifel Tower. For metal fans, perhaps the likes of Gojira and their gold medal winning performance at the 2024 Olympic opening ceremony lives rent free in their heads. Fans of the more niche and obscure side may hold the likes of Alcest, Year Of No Light, or Hypno5e in a similar high regard. All of those have pushed boundaries of what heavy music can be and have taken great pride in doing so.
And then there’s Igorrr! A band who have well and truly taken the songwriting rule book, scribbled on it, tore it up, and tossed it out of the nearest window! So far outside of the box they can’t even remember what the box looks like. Pick your analogy. These were my thoughts immediately during and after listening to their latest record “Amen”. In fact, the only reason for mentioning the bands above is that they and Igorrr all hail from the same Western European country. Musically, you’ve got more chance of handcuffing a ghost than successfully categorizing Igorrr’s style! The brainchild and passion project of Gauiter Serre, what exactly is their sound then and how does it manifest on “Amen”?
Well, the album is a journey, believe me! Your senses will be treated/subjected to some of the seemingly most random and chaotic cocktail of electronic music imaginable. ‘Daemoni’ is perhaps the best example of this musical approach. Even the neutrals will appreciate the high quality production values on display. Lovers of darker and heavier music will adore the chest rattling bass and the bowel shaking beats, all of which will surely sound even more tasty in a live setting! A nice sprinkling of crunching distorted guitars and heavy growling vocals bring some semblance of normality; a sentence that’s never been uttered before in the history of mankind, surely!
Igorrr have seemed to experiment with Middle Eastern themes and instrumentation on the regular. ‘Blastbeat Falafel’ and ‘Ancient Sun’ are prime examples of that, in particular with the deployment of Arabic infused scales that will transport your mind’s eye to the Gobi desert! ‘Ancient Sun’ also provides the platform for vocalist Marthe to unleash her supreme vocal talent! Her haunting mezzo-soprano vocals have long been a crucial cog in Igorrr’s ever complex sound, and you’ll get to experience this for yourself come release day.
One of my earliest musical memories was discovering my dad’s CD collection and checking out Tom Waits. I remember piano-based ballads such as ‘Sight For Sore Eyes’ and ‘Broken Bicycles’. As I’ve got older, I’ve come to appreciate his musical genius and experimental approach to music more and more. What’s this got to do with Igorrr? Igorrr also take this piano-based ballad approach to some of their songs, in particular during ‘Silence’. When blended with more traditional metal elements (more distorted guitars), this is why you could think of Igorrr as what Tom Waits if he ever released a metal album!
Are your ear drums ready for a good old fashioned sonic pummelling? Of course they are! Even if they’re not, get them subjected to a low end pounding in the shape of ‘Infestis’…and get your neck and back ready for some serious headbanging too!
So, earlier in the review, a question was posed; what exactly is Igorrr’s sound? Honestly, we’ve come no closer to answering this question! After all, it goes beyond the confines of written language and simply cannot be consumed in this manner. Igorrr truly is a journey that one must experience if you’re looking for vanilla and predictable, Igorrr are not for you. If you’re looking to be challenged and pushed out of your comfort zone, then strap yourself in and get ready for this thoroughly unique experience!
