Album Review: Sortilège – Apocalypso (Season of Mist)

Sortilège, the French kings of heavy metal made a comeback in 2021, with a renewed line-up around Christian “Zouille” Augustin, its lead singer. After a long period of 18 months and a lot of hard work, the band is proud to present its new album ‘Apocalypso’, out on March 3rd, 2023, via Season of Mist.

The ‘traditional’ style of heavy metal that Sortilège portray continues to be a head-banging blast with tons of screaming riffs, groovy rhythms, and epic vocals. A thrill ride of metal, uncomplicated but with more detail than most would expect from something that sounds cut from the classic days.

Although that doesn’t mean Apocalypso sounds out of date, far from it, the production job and French vocals give it a much fresher feel. There’s no denying the enjoyable nature of metal that has constant energy, is filled with heavy groove, delivers a bevy of riffs, and has enough impressive detail to feel more than the sum of all its parts.

Apocalypso features 10 tracks, plenty of guests, and a consistent level of excitement that serves as a reminder of not just Sortilège’s talents, but the undying energy of this music. There are many highlights, such as the moody Attila, which has a chorus that soars and a kick-ass guitar solo. Or the epic Derrière les portes de Babylone, which has some interesting symphonic touches.

Then there is power-metal infused anthem Le sacre du sorcier, the chest-pounding and heart-thumping energy of Walkyrie, the melodic ballad-esqe Encore un jour, and the near 8-minute epic that is the title track. Banger track after banger track, this is the stuff that makes Sortilège so much more than just your everyday heavy metal band.

Their comeback continues and with this album in their arsenal, the future is looking extremely bright.

Sortilège – Apocalypso Track Listing:

1. Poseidon
2. Attila (feat Stéphane Buriez)
3. Derrière les portes de Babylone (feat Myrath)
4. Le sacre du sorcier
5. La parade des centaures (feat Stéphane Buriez)
6. Walkyrie
7. Encore un jour
8. Trahison
9. Vampire
10. Apocalypso (feat Kevin Codfert)

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