Baume – Aout Approche

Baume, the Atmospheric Black Metal one-man project from one of the minds behind Cepheide and Rance, are due for another EP release – Only this time, the music and overall approach has shifted slightly, now more closely resembling Post-Black Metal than the before-mentioned Atmospheric music that can also be found in Gaetans other bands.

This ends up serving two distinct purposes, the most obvious of which making Baume distance itself ever so slightly from both Cepheide and Rance. As a side-effect it also makes it possible to make the overall feel of all five tracks present less atmospheric and far more ambient (which is in no small part due to the great emphasis on the use of synthesizers throughout).

Quite interestingly this approach seems to fit the musician Gaetan quite well, since he slowly, but surely manages to build up a strong musical landscape around you, urging you in, to take a seat, to share in its experience. And while it was most definitely not what I was expecting considering the history of Baume’s releases (I will admit that I somehow missed the last one), Aout Approche still proved to be to my liking.

That being said, Baume’s new release, in my opinion at least, will most likely be more profitable and enjoyable to fans of Shoegaze due to its sheer downplayed and slow nature – Nothing is rushed, nothing is forced – Everything happens when it is supposed to. Most definitely an experimental release, and a bold one at that.

The third track on the record is entitled ”Un Calme entre les Tempêtes” and to me encapsulated the entire experience perfectly (in English the track translates into ‘The Calm Between the Storms’), as everything about this new creation excudes calm, bordering on monotony. Hell, one could argue that Gaetan is not even singing on this record, instead merely softly speaking, in his native language, to the audience around him. As usual however, do not let any potential lack of understanding of the French language deter you – The calm speaks for itself.

All in all the album contains five tracks, adding up to roughly thirty minutes. Thirty minutes which I will recommend to fans of bands such as Trautonist. Sadly I cannot provide with a direct YouTube link since it is not on that platform at the moment – Instead, please look below for a link to the bands Bandcamp page.

https://www.facebook.com/Baumeband/

https://baumeband.bandcamp.com/album/ao-t-approche?fbclid=IwAR0J-qlH5UitTP70hlGT5xOoRXrII2nWEIETGriPj112Q4BobIlR_LtdyOA