Today we’re going to delve deep into the Vietnamese metal underground. Yes, you’ve read that right. However…are we going to Vietnam? Well, no. 🙂
Let me explain. Do you know how many people called Vothana a Vietnamese black metal? Well, it’s done by the people of Vietnamese heritage, but not in Vietnam.
That’s the case also with an obscure raw depressive black metal project you might never heard of – Autumn in My Room. The project, although done by two guys with Vietnamese roots, comes from Canada.
Not that it poses a problem, because it doesn’t, but just a short clarification. Still, it definitely has its place within the pages of Indokult.com.
We’re going to talk about the very first release of Autumn in My Room – the demo “L’automne dans ma chambre” from 2008.
It’s not long, less then 16 minutes, but what a time it is…starting with a melancholic intro which gave the project and the demo its name, “L’automne dans ma chambre”, the accoustic guitar mixes with the rain until the drums slowly kick in…and the intro gets us to the second track, “Je bygones”.
I immediately fell in love with it, the drums evoked the early Burzum’s “My Journey to the Stars” (which I admit, I consider one of the best Burzum tracks ever), so, obviously, I am partial. Yes, it’s very Burzum-ish, apart from vocals, which are quite distorted with – is it echo added? I don’t understand a thing, but that’s not an issue here. And yes, it’s catchy and at times quite melodical, exactly as like it.
The third track here is “Oublié mémoire” and continues the set course. Which basically means – if you haven’t stopped in the middle (or beginning) of the first song, you’re gonna like it. I always applaud the simplicity of some black metal records (ok, not Emperor) while still being able to evoke the emotions and transmit the raw energy through the speakers.
Obviously, the riffs and melodies might be similar (in the end, there are only 8 tones in the octave, aren’t they?). As I don’t blast black metal 24/7, that doesn’t pose a problem for me.
And what about the closing song? It’s “Un espoir de ma vie“ and we’re slowing down, to almost doom-tempo, although with the raw guitar sound and distorted vocals. The first part of the song is kinda boring, but after a short intermezzo we’re picking up and the song continues with almost hard-rock riffs…but the song as whole reminds me more of a incoherent practice session. It’s not bad, don’t get me wrong, but the previous two songs were much, much bettter.
The demo was released in 15 pieces, so I doubt you can get it, but here’s the youtube upload of it:
