Emily Violet
Cauchemar are a new discovery for me and I'm so glad to have them in rotation. This is the perfect metal record for a witchy midsummer.
Favorite track: Danger de nuit.
Dante Ruivo
What a breath of fresh air this is. Amazing! Can't wait to listen to the full record. edit: and having listened to the whole thing, I'm even more impressed and I know I'll be coming back to it regularly! Great!🔥
Favorite track: Rosa mystica.
Bronan The Duderian
Very good album. Cauchemar carved and solidified a nice spot for themselves, accurately between Priests of Pagan Altars and other Blood Ceremonies. They've conjured their own style of traditional doom/heavy metal, and explore it quite well with each release.
Favorite track: Volcan.
Rising from their moss-covered crypt, Cauchemar is back with their third full-length, Rosa Mystica, the band’s first offering since 2019’s Trapped Under Ice compilation. Meticulously composed and rehearsed to perfection, the album is a fully realized expression of Cauchemar’s signature sound of somber traditional doom delivered with the vigor of heavy metal. Perhaps owing to two of the members’ recent migration from Montreal to rural Quebec, the atmosphere on Rosa Mystica is spacious and rustic, gilded by the warm glow of stained-glass luminescence through which cuts the burnished weight of François Patry’s guitars. Settled within bassist Andres Arango and drummer Joël Ladouceur’s vaulted geometry, the austere muscular riffs drive the songs, haunted by the spectral radiance of organs and Annick Giroux’s French-language incantations. Cauchemar’s highly praised performances with Pagan Altar in 2019 reified the band’s style, and Rosa Mystica–easily their most cohesive and complete–bears the confidence of a band that has come into its own.
Description by Jason Campbell
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S'éveillant de leur crypte couverte de mousse, Cauchemar sont de retour avec leur troisième album, Rosa Mystica, première offrande du groupe depuis la compilation Trapped Under Ice (2019). Méticuleusement composé et arrangé, cet album est l’expression pleinement réalisée du son caractéristique de Cauchemar, un doom traditionnel sombre livré avec la vigueur du heavy metal. Peut-être en raison de la récente migration de deux des membres de Montréal vers le Québec rural, l'atmosphère de Rosa Mystica est vaste et rustique. Soutenus par la voûte massive de la section rythmique (le bassiste Andres Arango et le batteur Joël Ladouceur), les riffs austères et musclés du guitariste François Patry animent les chansons, hantées par l'éclat spectral des orgues et les incantations ancestrales d'Annick Giroux. Les performances très appréciées de Cauchemar avec Pagan Altar en 2019 ont consolidé ses fondations et Rosa Mystica émane d’un groupe qui a atteint sa maturité.
Description par Jason Campbell, traduit par FP.
credits
released May 16, 2022
Songs by Cauchemar.
“Notre-Dame-sous-terre” after Fulcanelli.
“Volcan” after the Comte de Lautréamont, guitar and chorus written by Joel Ladouceur”.
Solo by Alan Jones in “Volcan”.
Solo by Chany Pilote in "La Sorcière".
Recorded August 2021 at No Man's Land studio, Gatineau, QC.
Cover art by Valeria Sakseeva.
Graphic design by Annick Giroux.
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Chansons par Cauchemar.
“Notre-Dame-sous Terre” d’après Fulcanelli.
“Volcan” d’après le comte de Lautréamont, guitare et refrain composés par Joel Ladouceur”.
Solo par Alan Jones dans “Volcan”.
Solo par Chany Pilote dans “La sorcière”.
Enregistré en août 2021 au studio No Man’s Land, Gatineau, QC.
Dessins de la pochette par Valeria Sakseeva.
Graphisme par Annick Giroux.
Cauchemar is a French-Canadian heavy metal band founded in 2007. Its music is distinguished by its doom metal and hard rock
influences, and by the mystical french-language singing of Annick Giroux.
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Cauchemar est un groupe d'Heavy Métal canadien-français fondé en 2007. Sa musique se distingue par ses influences Doom Métal et Hard Rock, et par le chant mystique d'Annick Giroux....more
This... THIS is how you revive classic and traditional metal from the 80s while making it your own. I could rant and rave for a mini novel's worth of words about why this album is just... impossibility good. I've had to retract so much because of how long winded I got. Please just give it a shot if it's within the subgenres you like. playfulpooka
I own and love "Times..." and "Dream Quest Ends", but I slept too long on this one. The band has gotten even tighter and more intricate with their awesome riffing, but it's Sarah's vocals that steal the show. There was never a lack of personality or verve in that department, but she has stepped up her game wonderfully. It really feels like the musicians and vocalist are pushing each other to new heights and I am here for it! Well done, all! Groovy Decay
So I can't leave a long enough review to say everything I want. But I will say this, I love this EP. It's a great little follow up to times, and has just enough of a dynamic shift in sound to prove that Smoulder isn't a one trick pony with their first album's formula. This one really plays up the 70s prog aspects (DUST and Manilla Road influences definitely shine through even harder here). It's still Smoulder, don't get me wrong. Just a different side in some ways, all of which are good. playfulpooka
A triumphant-but-bittersweet send-off from the Australian outfit, distilling a decade of doom-metal mayhem into five potent parting shots. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 26, 2023
This album is amazing.
It infuses that traditional heavy metal style with that sort of power metal lyrics and vocal style too. The guitar work is fantastic and all the solos are smooth and fluid. The vocals tho, are just phenomenal. Would recommend this to any metal fan, old and new. thepimpishere