Sometimes the stranger a band is, the more I want to listen to them. That is the case with ENFEUS LODGE. Shrouded in mystery, with not a website or MySpace, I came to find out that this two man black metal band hails from France. Formed in 2007, Xaphan, who handles the vocals and the lyrics for ENFEUS LODGE is also part of several other Satanic French black metal bands, such as Finis Gloria Dei and Seigneur Voland. All of the instruments on ENFEUS LODGE are played by Hunferd alone. He also comes from a highly Satanic Ambient black metal band called Ordo Templi Aeternae Lucis. According to legend, Xaphan and Hunferd bonded over grave desecrations, and thus ENFEUS LODGE was born.

Onto the music: Anyone who reads my reviews knows I am not fond of intros. I know to expect them, as many bands use them as a gateway to their album. Some are cool and some are downright annoying. This intro, last three minutes long, it is quite strange, sounding like church music with a weird stereophonic male voice talking in French over it. Don’t skip to the second song, because when the three minutes are up they tear straight into the music… starting with a slow, melancholy riff, that is almost pretty, we are then treated to the black metal screams of Xaphan, and then the vibe of the music begins to change into darkness. Though the lyrics are all in French, whatever he is screaming about sounds fucking cool. Quite a long song this is, six minutes into it, the music changes yet again to more traditional raw black metal. Xaphan’s vocals sound like a demon raging. Song two, entitled O Grand Fossoyeur Des Paix Nocturnes goes straight into a fast paced range. Then in the middle of the song we have another vocalist shouting in French over the music as Xaphan continues to scream in the background. It is rather unique to hear this element brought into a black metal song. It ends with wolves howling. There is a lot of reverb on the guitars on this album; it makes them kind of sound clangy. Some bits of production are muddy, but I really like the effects put on the vocals. The songs on this album are rather epic. Song three, Le Roi Des Morts starts off with sinister sounding keyboards and piano and then features a female speaking in French verses, and then mid song Xaphan joins her, though he continues in his black metal voice as she continues in her speaking voice. Interesting to say the least. Song four, Je Suis D’Ailleurs is incredibly muddy sounding, which makes you remember that ENFEUS LODGE is indeed a black metal band. Actually, it is the best song on the album, melody wise. It has a real French feel to the middle part. The album ends as it began, with a creepy outro.

Though I don’t know much about ENFEUS LODGE the band, I do know that I like this album a lot, black metal fans wanting something different should give this a listen.