Les Bâtards du Roi are a band from France that plays a very melodic and medieval form of black metal and this is a review of their 2025 album "Les Chemins de I'Exil" which will be released in october by les Acteurs de I'Ombre Productions.
Folk instruments start off the album and also bring in a medieval atmosphere before going into a heavier direction. Melodies are also added into a lot of the guitar riffing while the vocals are mostly grim sounding black metal screams along with some of the songs also adding in clean sections and clear singing is also used at times.
When the music speeds up a great amount of tremolo picking and blast b eats can be heard which also gives the songs more of a raw feeling. When guitar solos and leads are utilized they are also done in more of a melodic style along with the album also adding in a good mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts.
Growls are also utilized at times along with the music also having its symphonic moments and a few songs also adds in a small amount of spoken words as well as all of the musical instruments also having a very powerful sound to them, a couple of tracks are also very long and epic in length. The production sounds very professional while the lyrics are written in French and cover the story of brothers who committed regicide and plunged the kingdom into decay and torment.
In my opinion Les Chemins de I'Exil are a very great sounding melodic and medieval black metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "La Forêt" "Ord Vil Merdos" "Les Chemins de l’exil" and "Sous la Couronne de l’Éternité". 8 out of 10.
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