After having done these reviews for ten years now, there have been plenty of bands that I keep finding myself coming back to time after time. While it’s the somewhat larger names like Cattle Decapitation, Inter Arma, or Cannibal Corpse that I keep crawling back to, the underground has always held my fascination. For nine years, Ende has been one of the earliest acts that I added to that list with their brand of old school black metal something that I’ve always found immensely engaging, cold, and intrinsic right from the get-go with only allowing the band to become ever deadlier in their craft. Now six albums deep, Ende has made an undeniable mark on the scene with their brand of old school darkness having yet to wane.

From one album to the next, Ende always makes damn sure to push their power forward in some form or another. Whether it’s focusing more on the melodic factor, adding symphonic elements, adjusting their approach in post-production, or some combination of the three, Ende refuses to remain stagnant as their songwriting is always maturing and ensuring that whatever comes next from Ende is not a recycled product. When it comes to what they’ve summoned forth for “L’aube des Anathèmes”, it should be made apparent right from the get-go that this French act has only continued that trend of unrelenting darkness.

Four years since their last full-length outing, Ende has been hard at work making damn sure that this is their most matured and finessed work to date while still retaining that raw factor they’ve become known for out of clear reverence for the 90s black metal sound that has yet to wane even ten years down the line with it still being amongst the most compelling examples of such power that I’ve seen throughout many excavations of the underground. Alongside a mild symphonic edge that’s meant more of an enhancer rather than a pivotal centerpiece to the sound Ende brings to the table, “L’aube des Anathèmes” the cold approach of black metal is simply something that cannot easily be turned down nor downplayed with the riffs and overarching songwriting simply captivating as the album takes on a sound that can only be described as vampiric in nature. Ende has always excelled at delivering a massive creation that can just as be melodic as it can be raw, and “L’aube des Anathèmes” taps into something of the absolutely most compelling aspects of that approach. Given all the experience and devastation that the band has brought forth up to this point, it’s no surprise that their sixth album would be a clear victory but that doesn’t make the reality of it all any less tantalizing to bear witness to.

While I would love to put on the blindfold and immediately label any Ende release as a mark of genius in black metal, it is important that each entry is analyzed and given the proper dissection in order to really make sure whether or not the work is something that is compelling to experience. Not since “The Rebirth of I” has Ende sounded so grand and bestial in my opinion with “L’aube des Anathèmes” sure to go down as one of the band’s most compelling and complete when all is said and done.

LISTEN to “L’aube des Anathèmes” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Ende on Facebook here.