Pensées Nocturnes did release a new album in earlier 2016, this time not via long-time label Les Acteurs De L’Ombre Productions (or sub-label Emanations?), but independently. Therefor I had been kindly asked to write down my nocturnal thoughts on Nom D’Une Pipe!, the third full length by this unusual one-man project. Pensées Nocturnes were formed in 2008 by Vaerohn, who joined Way To End a couple of years ago. He did record and release the albums Vacuum and Grotesque in respectively 2009 and 2011, which were the first releases on the French label Les Acteurs De L’Ombre Productions. Actually, it’s quite bizarre for Pensées Nocturnes’ musique noire does differ quite a lot from what we’re used to expect from this label. The very same goes for Nom D’Une Pipe!, the third album (as a matter of fact, there was another recording, Ceci Est De La Musique, but it wasn’t but a non-official outlet, so I won’t consider it as a ‘regular’ or official release). But let’s call it ‘open-mindedness’, okay.
So, Vaerohn did record this material at his Studio De La Pipe (I wonder what he puts in his pipe when smoking, but I guess it might be green… - goes well with a nice glass of turfy whisky! [note to Vaerohn: Laphroaig est mon préféré depuis long-temps!]), and it got mastered at the famous Drudenhaus Studio. The album brings fifty minutes of Comédie Musicale Pour Malentendant (Parce Que La Mal-Droitesse Est Une Vertu Bien Trop Rare). Seriously…
What Pensées Nocturnes bring is, as mentioned before, quite different from all other stuff on this label, but it actually differs a lot from quite everything one might have heard before. Their Musique is a cacophonous amalgam of different styles and non-styles, strongly rooted in Black and Progressive Extreme Metal, and injected with some operatic voices, saxophone and trumpet, wind bells, accordion (very French indeed; it makes me crave for a piece of baguette with matured Camembert and a glass of aged Saint-Estephe – sorry, make it two glasses). Then it gets add with details from Classical and Martial Music, Avant-garde Jazz, Cabaret, French folkloristic music, Oriental melodies and chants, theatre and comedy at the one hand, and all possible kinds of Prog / Alternative / Rock / Metal whatsoever. Such description might lead to thoughts of pure chaos, and I have to say that it actually is. I do enjoy the three albums I got from this project, but even after several listens, even I am lost. On top there are different samples (at least one comes from the legendary duo Laurel and Hardy!).
In general, this album is the heaviest out of three, with less classical interludes at the one hand, and less Black-oriented bravery at the other, but with a more jazzy and avant-garde attitude. It’s like an eccentric cabaret performance in some smoky bar, or like a theatrical and grotesque parody on the current scene – who knows…
I warn you: listen very carefully (and indeed I shall say this only once) before buying (or stealing) this album (or the new one, which I haven’t heard yet either). I prefer the former recordings, but that isn’t but a personal and totally subjective opinion. You might disagree with me…