THRASH LA REINE - La Foi, La Loi, La Croix

Release date May 31/19 (Bandcamp)

I should probably start this off by noting that I don’t speak a lick of French. Which is relevant when listening to Montreal-based heavy metallers Thrash La Reine. From reading their bio I gain that the lyrics are inspired by punk topics, namely politics. While the lyrics might be punk and all in French, La Foi, La Loi, La Croix is in the international language of METAL!

The actual sonic signature of this band is hard to place, however, the opening track, ‘Pourchasser Le Dragon’ could very well be a Hammerfall song transcribed into French. The opening riff is killer, but it’s sort of the crux of my problem with this release. Nothing else on this album sounds like this song.

From track to track it sounds like they tried to do a different style and it doesn’t come across as cohesive at all. They do each style decently, but I would have liked to see them lean into one and gain a more refined sound. The album even ends with an out of place folk/power 9-minute epic. The closest they get to the ‘epic thrash’ sound they are going for is ‘Le Redempteur’, with aggressive vocals in a fast paced sonic storm set to the melody of power metal.

The problem once again: it’s just one song that sounds like that. The rest of the album is not very memorable, but there is a spark of something exciting in there that will definitely make me keep an eye out for another release. Until then, if you want some French NWOBHM there is always Sortilège instead.

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