Peste Noire

Peste Noire is a medieval black metal band from Avignon, France, formed by La sale Famine de Valfunde in 2000. Famine has been the main member and creative force behind this band since its inception, and, to date, all songs (lyrics, music and solos) were written by Famine except for "La C?sarienne"'s music (on "Folkfuck Folie") written by ex-member Neige, as well as some interludes on "Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor" written by Audrey Sylvain.

Peste Noire has always rejected the exposure of their music on the internet. There has never been any official PN website, nor any official PN myspace page. Some "fan pages" currently exist (/pestenoire, /pestenoiremetal etc.) but they are in no way official as they go against Famine's vision of BM.

BAND HISTORY:

Peste Noire was born in the mind of one La sale Famine de Valfunde who wrote all songs (except one), solos, lyrics, concepts for Peste Noire since its creation. The other members aren't/have never been involved in the song-writing process but are/were always used as session musicians (Neige included) playing the music written by Famine. Famine is therefore very reluctant to see people associating Peste Noire with Neige and his multiple bands or side-projects (Alcest...). In a 2006 interview for the English magazine Zero Tolerance (n?14) after he had just formed a whole line-up fit for concerts, Famine stated : ? The only things I will never share [in Peste Noire] are the concept and the surrounding universe (musical, aesthetic and textual), which have grown and matured in my brain only ?. The different artworks were also chosen by and built around the ideas of one La sale Famine de Valfunde. He certainly has a vision of black metal that is exclusively his own, and the material resulting from his vision definitely has its own identity within the genre.

Peste Noire offers a music which is in turn epic and melodic, sometimes more turbulent and aggressive, passionate and sorrowful and at times even openly sardonic. It always retains some degree of insanity and is generally raw, filthy and evocative of the atmosphere developed in France d'o?l in the Middle Ages. The band is sometimes referred to as P.N. or K.P.N (? Kommando Peste Noire ?) and its musical mission is to search for enlightenment not in churches but rather in sewers or reaching what is ? high ? through what is ? low ?, making gold out of mud.

Famine started Peste Noire alone in 2000. As he wasn't able to play drums and refused to use a drum machine, Famine quickly felt the need to find a session drummer for his newly founded one-man band. At the time, Famine was helped by a young musician who called himself Neige (French word for "snow") who agreed to be a session drummer only on Peste Noire's demos. Famine declared: " When PN began, I had no drummer. Neige was there and I hired him just like I would have hired any other decent drummer to EXECUTE black metal. Neige never had any influence on my music in the slightest way possible; I write everything and I tell people what they must do over MY riffs. This was exactly what happened with Neige, ask him!" (Diabolical Conquest webzine; August 2009). Argoth, a session bass player, also helped up to the 2002 ?Macabre Transcendance...? demo. Famine (then known as Aegnor/Feu Cruel) would also be the lead guitarist on Neige's Alcest's first demo tape "Tristesse Hivernale" released on 2001 through Drakkar Productions in which Famine wrote the main riff of the song "La for?t de Cristal". Peste Noire released three demos called "Aryan Supremacy" (2001), "Macabre Transcendance..." (2002) and "Phal?nes and Pestilence - Salvatrice averse" (2003) and one split demo tape with Sombre Chemin in their first three years of existence. All demos were copied one by one on audio cassettes, the traditional media for demos in the black metal genre.

In 2005, Famine hired new members Winterhalter (drums) and Indria (bass) for them to play on Peste Noire's first studio album and to expand Famine's music. They completed what Famine began to call "Kommando Peste Noire". At the time, Famine had fired Neige from the band and P.N. was a three-piece band (Famine, Winterhalter, Indria; http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/500/8610/Peste+Noire.jpg ) when the debut album "La Sanie des si?cles - Pan?gyrique de la d?g?n?rescence" was recorded and produced in August 2006 by French label De profundis ?ditions to much critical acclaim from both fans and press. "La Sanie des si?cles" (which roughly translates as ? The sanies of the centuries - Ode to degeneration ?, ? sanies ? being ? a thin greenish foul-smelling discharge from a wound, ulcer, etc., containing pus and blood ? according to the Collins English Dictionary) is basically a compilation of the demo tracks previously written/recorded by Famine on his own equipment re-recorded in Rosenkrantz studio (Abigail, Celestia, Mortifera). This album still features the same raw, filthy and DIY sound of Peste Noire's demos, but is still substantially cleaned up a lot in terms of listenability. The music still falls into the black metal category, but manages to go above and beyond that with songs such as the opener ? Nous sommes fan?s ? for instance which lurches into a weird drunken waltz or with sprawling tracks with haunting, off kilter melodies that manage to maintain their credibility over the course of five to twelve minutes. This album is also peppered with non musical weirdness as Famine incorporated some unhealthy samples in his music ? taken from a variety of sources such as liturgy ? in order to build a lot of the twisted, mysterious atmosphere that the final product holds. Also still in place is Famine's incredible guitar work. Rather unusual for the black metal scene, the album is laden with guitar solos and features a pipe organ on some tracks. Neige came as a guest at the end of the recording sessions and made a vocal feature on ? Dueil Angoisseus ? (studio version). ? Nous sommes fan?s ? (the introduction track) and ? Des m?decins malades et des saints s?questr?s ?, the bonus track on the album, were old demo tracks and it featured Famine (guitars, bass guitar, vocals) and Neige (session drums). Despite what several labels claim in order to sell Peste Noire to the masses, Neige doesn't play guitar, bass or drums on "La Sanie des si?cles - Pan?gyrique de la d?g?n?rescence" and Famine put things straight when he stated: "The most absurd idea spread by idiots is that La Sanie des si?cles is better because Neige was more involved in its recording and production, yet the fact is that the album was recorded without Neige, in 2005, when I had kicked him out of the band. [...] To claim that Neige is an important figure in PN is the same as saying that the person who plays the triangle in SOPOR AETERNUS AND THE ENSEMBLE OF SHADOWS is the main man in SOPOR", he added (Diabolical Conquest webzine; August 2009). "La Sanie des si?cles" was repressed a second time by De profundis ?ditions and Transcendental Creations as cd in August 2008. A vinyl version co-produced by De profundis ?ditions and Finnish label Ahdistuksen Aihio Productions was released in August 2009.

On April 2007, the Finnish label Northern Heritage would release the ? Lorraine Rehearsal ? 12" EP including the legend ? Hooligan black metal ? and featuring four ? rehearsal ? songs recorded in Lorraine from August 2006. K.P.N's black metal on these rehearsal takes is buzzing yet full of cascading sheets of guitar, hooks, minor key melodies and blooping bass. The B-side is the second version (20 minutes 10 s. long) of the epic track ? Phal?nes Et Pestilence ?, composed by Famine in 2005 and then recorded on his own recording equipment. This older recording is much more rough and lo-fi, raw and blown out. It is full of reverb and effects, but still rife with plenty of surprising melodic breakdowns which gets even weirder near the end, with a long stretch of scratchy record crackle and monklike chants, and then a laid back acoustic outro. (A tape version of the ? Lorraine Rehearsal ? was also released on Roman Saenko (Hate Forest, Drudkh)'s label Night Birds Records. It was limited to 300 hand-numbered copies). For the first time P.N. became a four-piece band (still with Winterhalter (drums) and Indria (bass), and Neige (second guitar on the ? Lorraine Rehearsal ?) being reintegrated) fit for concerts. On June 3, 2007, Peste Noire played their first concert in Toulouse, France.

De profundis ?ditions produced Peste Noire's second album "Folkfuck Folie" released in June 2007. "Folkfuck Folie" features studio versions of the four ? rehearsal ? tracks from the ? Lorraine Rehearsal ?. This album whose lyrics sometimes seem on the verge of autobiography mainly deals with apocalyptic themes, the final triumph of the body over the torments of the mind, primal barbarity, wartime poetry, the spreading of sexually transmitted diseases, or mental disorder which is symbolized by the radio sample of the demented poet Antonin Artaud used as an introduction to the track ? Folkfuck Folie ?. Half of the lyrics were written by Famine and he took the other half from various French authors mainly from the medieval period such as Guillaume de Machaut or Gautier de Coincy to illustrate the parallel between medieval and modern apocalypse he had started to evoke with "La Sanie des si?cles - Pan?gyrique de la d?g?n?rescence" 's lyrics. This second album described as ? Folklore d'?gout ? (? Folklore from the sewers ?) by Famine no doubt explores even more filthy and twisted realms than ever before and Famine ironically says that his goal was ? to create the ugliest and most irritating sound possible, in order make the album unlistenable after having heard two songs. You have to be mentally unstable to go through the entire album ? he added. "Folkfuck Folie" almost sounds indeed like a mad musical alchemy where two different records would be crammed together creating some unholy sonic beast, poppy and catchy, but bleak and brutal and demented, an unnatural blackened buzzing freakshow of sound, but always as beautiful and poetic as it is fucked up. "Folkfuck Folie" shows a Peste Noire which is still imbued with a strange pop sensibility wrapped in all manner of fucked up sounds and damaged production. Famine's guitarwork is still very varied, from clean and clear, to muddy and murky, often at the same time, and always in the same song. It sometimes spins into crystalline melodies, delicate and sparkling, other times super dense downtuned buzz, occasionally weird and angular and super mathy. While Neige's input on "La Sanie des si?cles - Pan?gyrique de la d?g?n?rescence" was non-existent, on Folkfuck Folie he composed for the first and last time a track for Peste Noire: the thrashy oddity ? La C?sarienne ?, the lyrics of which are a poem written by Famine. Neige ? never once played a single guitar riff except those on ? La C?sarienne ?, which was the only song he ever wrote for PN and will ever have written ? Famine stated. By the way, in the studio sessions, Neige only played the second guitar on this track and he doesn't play any other guitar part on "Folkfuck Folie". Famine, who wrote all the other tracks on "Folkfuck Folie", remains the mastermind and exclusive guitarist and songwriter behind Peste Noire. A limited vinyl version co-produced by Northern Heritage and De profundis ?ditions was released in April 2010.

At the same period, Famine worked on two more songs called ? S?r?nade ? and ? H?pital ?, a mind-boggling blend of folkish black metal and post-punk with electronic beats featuring Sainte Audrey as guest vocalist. Famine somehow felt they wouldn't fit on "Folkfuck Folie". He released these songs under his own name "Valfunde" in a split 7" EP with Amesoeurs produced by De profundis ?ditions in November 2007. The production value has been kept low on purpose to strengthen the dark and morbid atmosphere required by the musical version of the twisted love poem ? S?r?nade ? by the French ? Fin de si?cle ? poet Paul Verlaine. In the liner notes it even says ironically: ? Recorded and mixed by Famine on outdated equipment with low-priced microphones ?. Famine quickly dropped the idea of Valfunde which wasn't his solo project but rather a short-lived side-project using electronic beats. Instead Famine used the post-punk ideas he had for Valfunde in Peste Noire's third album "Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor" (2009). For many people, Peste Noire equals Valfunde.

Also released in 2007 was a self-released double protape box Mors orbis terrarum containing all Peste Noire's demo tracks from the sold out demo tapes, and also a split with Finnish black metal band Horna which contained the new track "Paysage Mauvais".
Mors orbis terrarum was re-released as vinyl by Debemur Morti Productions in September 2008 (it includes all the demos featured on the tape box, except the very raw ?Aryan supremacy? demo and the second demo version of ?Phal?nes et pestilence? which was on the B side of the ?Lorraine Rehearsal? vinyl released by Northern Heritage in 2007). La Sanie des si?cles - Pan?gyrique de la d?g?n?rescence, their sold out 2006 first album has been re-released by De profundis ?ditions and Transcendental Creations as cd in August 2008

In addition to their first concert in Toulouse on June 3, 2007, they also played concerts in Lyon on June 23, 2007 and Bordeaux on December 16, 2007 with Mayhem. On January 19, 2008, Peste Noire played a concert in Oslo, Norway (at Betong) and one in Boismont on July 18, 2008. In August 2008, they also made a 13-date tour called "Les Treizes Nuits de la Peste" with Akitsa in Quebec, the French-speaking part of Canada, known as New France prior to the conquest of the area by the English during the Seven Years War. The band (Famine) refused to play in the USA. It was the first time a French metal band had ever toured Quebec.

In March 2009, De profundis ?ditions released Peste Noire's third album "Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor" (i.e ? Ballad against the enemies of France ?) with a new line-up Famine had chosen consisting of a new drummer (A. from (Darvulia)) and a new bass player (Ragondin) replacing Neige, Winterhalter and Indria. This album, whose main theme is based on the nostalgia for medieval France through traditional military songs or royal chants, is soundwise reminiscent of P.N. demos but the style evolved to a confusional mix of black metal and folk and crust, hard rock rhythms from a lost Satanic 60s, piano / Hammond organ interludes by Sainte Audrey-Yolande de la Molteverge and acoustic guitars with even more of a medieval appeal. Famine characterized this unique style as ? Boyscout satanism ?, in a very typically French fashion. The music on "Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor" evokes a long-gone France and it plays between the impossible return to a lost past and the bare noise and pulse of a modern world. It is a very Romantic album, as in it follows the tradition of the Romantics. The title track is a reference to Fran?ois Villon which makes sense as the reckless, lowlife aesthetic of the 14th century French poet, thief and vagabond is perfectly suited for Famine's purposes. P.N. also adapted Villon's song ? Ballade contre les ennemis de la France ? into a black metal version entitled ? Ballade cuntre les anemis de la France ? for this album. In "Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor" 's bizarre soundworld Famine was able to capture both the genuinely passionate/emotional (i.e disgusting bleakness) and cold sound that some of Peste Noire's earlier French black metal counterparts achieved, and the triumphant glee and happiness of some modern post-rock when climbing into a epic climax. Peste Noire have again managed the seemingly impossible, creating a record both totally twisted and damaged, but also moving and melodic. Unlike the previous two albums which had been recorded in the Rosenkrantz studios, the music of the black metal tracks of "Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor" were recorded by Famine on his own recording equipment like Peste Noire's demos.

A tape version of Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor was released in March 2009 anonymously. It was distributed by the label Tour de Garde from Quebec [21]. Another tape version meant for Eastern Europe was also released on Roman Saenko (Hate Forest, Drudkh)'s label Night Birds Records.

---------------------------

CONCEPT:

One of PN's leitmotifs is that of satanism as is common for bands in the black metal genre but PN certainly can't be reduced to that. (Famine himself said "P.N. is . . . indeed an extension of my inner self but not only. Above all else, P.N. is an extension of the Devil, its representation BY me. BECAUSE Satan enters into me, or BECAUSE He touches me from the outside, because in both cases I am brimful of Him . . . . Satan is the cause of my music, I am His means." (Zero Tolerance zine; 2006))

Even if Famine's music is characteristized by anarchic disdain and/or aristocratic sarcasm (Famine acknowledged the underlying influence of Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Fran?ois Rabelais in Peste Noire's music), giving it its distinctive voice, Famine's vision of black metal is also based on nationalism and Peste Noire is proud of French cultural heritage, especially medieval France. Famine took some lyrics written in Old French from medieval French writers such as Fran?ois Villon (for the song "Ballade cuntre les anemis de la France"), Christine de Pisan (for the song "Dueil Angoisseus") and Guillaume de Machaut (for "Amour ne m'amoit ne je li") and from modern writers, such as Charles Baudelaire ("Le mort joyeux" and "Spleen"), Paul Verlaine ("Soleils couchants"), Tristan Corbi?re ("Paysage mauvais"), and Robert Brasillach ("Psaume IV"). They have been suspected of being a national-socialist band but Famine said they were French nationalists: "I am a nationalist, not a socialist... My two nations are : France d'O?l (i.e Northern medieval France where langues d'o?l were spoken) and Hell." (Zero Tolerance zine; 2006). On Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor's digipack, Famine also stated that "Peste Noire is a nationalistic satanic band from France, not from Germany. Peste Noire reject any links with nazi imperialism, which is essentially an enemy of French culture for which PN fight. Let it be understood one day..."

Famine further explained why Peste Noire's concept is based on nationalism when he stated that "black metal is the musical memory of our bloodthirsty ancestors of blood, it is the marriage of Tradition, of old racial patrimony with fanaticism, with the rage and the rashness of a youth now lost. It is a CHTHONIC religion: a cult of the EARTH and a return to it, therefore a nationalism; a cult of what is BELOW the earth: Hell ? the adjective ?chthonic? applies to the Infernal gods as well. BM is a fundamentalism, a music with integrity (from latin integer, complete) which helps me to remain complete in a dying world, amidst a people in decay, unworthy of its blood. It is the apology of the dark european past. It is a psychosis which helps us to flee a reality we cannot tolerate anymore." (Zero Tolerance zine; 2006)

Peste Noire, which is Famine's band, has always rejected the exposure of their music on the internet. There has never been any official P.N. website, nor any official P.N. myspace page. Several ?fan myspace pages? currently exist (myspace.com/pestenoire, myspace.com/pestenoiremetal and others) but they are in no way official as they go against Famine's vision of BM. In August 2009, Famine stated in Diabolical Conquest webzine :
"The Internet is what has drawn black metal to the masses, a new age where everything is accessible to all types of fools at any time of the day, a new era where misanthropes gather at online communities wanting to make as many friends as possible. The occult, underground and elitist movement which the BLACK LEGIONS embodied is no longer possible: some idiot will inevitably put demo tapes on the Internet... [...] ON BEHALF OF MY BAND, I DEMAND THAT ALL INDIVIDUALS WHO CREATED PESTE NOIRE MYSPACE PAGES DELETE THESE PAGES IMMEDIATELY; MY MUSIC IS NOT MEANT TO BE LISTENED TO ON A FUCKING COMPUTER."

---------------------------

Band members:
* La Sale Famine de Valfunde (formerly Aegnor/Feu Cruel) - Lead and rhythm guitars, bass, harmonica, lead vocals, all songs, solos and lyrics (ex-Alcest (2000-2001), Valfunde) in all recordings by Peste Noire since he created the band in 2000.
* Andy Julia : drums (also in Darvulia, Nuit Noire, ex-Celestia) on Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor .
* Sainte Audrey-Yolande de la Molteverge (Audrey Sylvain) - vocals on Folkfuck Folie, vocals, piano, hammond organ on Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor. (also in Amesoeurs)
* Ragondin : bass guitar on Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor.

Former members:
* Neige (2001-2005): session drummer only on Aryan Supremacy (demo 2001), M?moire Pa?enne (split demo 2002), Macabre Transcendance... (demo 2002), Phal?nes et Pestilence - Salvatrice Averse (demo 2003), Phal?nes et Pestilence (demo 2005)
(2007-2008) - session rhythm guitars on ? La C?sarienne ?, the only track Neige played on on Folkfuck Folie 's studio sessions, guest vocals appearance on ? Dueil Angoisseus ? (La Sanie des si?cles - Pan?gyrique de la d?g?n?rescence's studio version) and on ? La C?sarienne ? (on Folkfuck Folie), the only song Neige ever wrote for Peste Noire, session live rhythm guitarist. (Neige is in Alcest, Amesoeurs, Phest, ex-Mortifera)
* Indria (2005-2008) - bass on La Sanie des si?cles, Lorraine Rehearsal (10' LP) and Folkfuck Folie, session live bass. (also in Triste Sir)
* Winterhalter (2005-2008)- drums on La Sanie des si?cles, Lorraine Rehearsal (10' LP) and Folkfuck Folie, session live drums. (also in Amesoeurs, Bahrrecht, Phobos)

---------------------------

Discography:
# Aryan Supremacy (demo 2001) ( http://cultmetal.com/files/d15b_12.jpg )
Aegnor (Famine): Guitars, vocals
Neige: Drums
Argoth: Bass

# M?moire Pa?enne (split 2002)
Feu Cruel (Famine): Music, vocals ("hurlements"), guitars, lyrics
Neige: Drums
Argoth: Bass

# Macabre Transcendance? (demo 2002) ( (http://www.cultmetal.com/files/Peste%20Noire%20-%20Macabre%20Transcendance.jpg)
Feu Cruel (Famine): Music, vocals, guitars, lyrics
Neige: Percussions

# Phal?nes et Pestilence - Salvatrice Averse (demo 2003)
Famine: Music, guitars, vocals, lyrics ("cantiques")
Neige: Percussions

# Phal?nes et Pestilence - Salvatrice Averse (demo 2005)
Famine: Music, guitars, vocals, lyrics
Neige: Percussions

# La Sanie des si?cles - Pan?gyrique de la d?g?n?rescence (album 2006)
Famine: Music, Guitars, Vocals, Lyrics, Bass on track 5 "Phal?nes Et Pestilence - Salvatrice Averse"
Indria: Bass except on track 5
Winterhalter: Drums
Session: Neige : Organ and drums on tracks 1 & 8, Guest vocals on tracks 6 & 7, bass on track 8.

# Lorraine Rehearsal (12'' LP 2007)
Famine - Music except "La C?sarienne", Lead Guitar, Vocals, Lyrics
Neige - Session Rhythm Guitar, Vocals on "La C?sarienne"
Indria - Bass
Winterhalter - Drums

# Folkfuck Folie (album 2007)
Famine: Music except "La C?sarienne", Guitars, Vocals, Lyrics
Indria: Bass
Winterhalter: Drums
Audrey S: Backing vocals
Neige : Vocals on "La C?sarienne", Rhythm guitar on "La C?sarienne" and acoustic intro of "Amour ne m'amoit ne je li" (The only guitar parts Neige ever played in PN)

# Mors Orbis Terrarum (Demo compilation 2007)
Features all the demos.

# Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor (album 2009)
Famine: Music, Guitars, Vocals, Harmonica
Ragondin: Bass
Andy Julia: Drums
Audrey S: Female vocals, piano, organ.

---------------------------

On the first album:

"La Sanie des si?cles ? Pan?gyrique de la d?g?n?rescence" (which roughly translates as ? The sanies of the centuries - Ode to degeneration ?, ? sanies ? being ? a thin greenish foul-smelling discharge from a wound, ulcer, etc., containing pus and blood ? according to the Collins English Dictionary) is the debut album by the French black metal band Peste Noire. The bulk of the album is based on tracks which were previously featured on Peste Noire demos (previously composed and recorded by La sale Famine on his own equipment). For "La Sanie des si?cles ? Pan?gyrique de la d?g?n?rescence" these demo tracks were rerecorded in Rosenkrantz studio with a full line-up (Indria as bassist and Winterhalter as drummer) Famine had recruited. This album still featured the same raw, filthy sound of Peste Noire's demos, but was still substantially cleaned up a lot in terms of listenability. The music still falls into the black metal category, but manages to go above and beyond that with sprawling tracks that managed to maintain their credibility over the course of 5 to 11 minutes. Famine also used a lot of samples in his music ? taken from a variety of sources ? in order to build a lot of the twisted, mysterious atmosphere that the final product holds. Also still in place are Famine's incredible guitar work. Neige, who was PN's session drummer on the demos, was no more a member of Peste Noire at the time of "La Sanie des si?cles", however he was featured on ? Nous sommes fan?s ? and ? Des m?decins malades et des saints s?questr?s ? as a session drummer only, basically because these two tracks are old demo tracks which have not been rerecorded in the studio session for La Sanie des si?cles. They are bonus tracks in their demo version on the album. Famine put things straight when he stated: ? The most absurd idea spread by idiots is that "La Sanie des si?cles" is better because Neige was more involved in its recording and production, yet the fact is that the album was recorded without Neige, in 2005, when I had kicked him out of the band. Neige never had any influence on my music in the slightest way possible; I write everything and I tell people what they must do over MY riffs. This was exactly what happened with Neige, ask him! [...] To claim that Neige is an important figure in PN is the same as saying that the person who plays the triangle in SOPOR AETERNUS AND THE ENSEMBLE OF SHADOWS is the main man in SOPOR. ?


PN plays a guitar-based style of black metal with a very varied songwriting. The riffing and leads have a fantastic melodic tinge to them, which is one of the reasons why this album is so powerful. Due to its incorporation of organ, folk-based guitars, unusual riffs, guitar solos and the use of multiple different types of black metal vocals, "La Sanie des si?cles ? Pan?gyrique de la d?g?n?rescence" received much critical acclaim from both fans and press. There is an underlying dark, melancholic feel throughout the album, which goes extremely well with the music that Famine and crew were able to create. Their concept of ? turning mud into gold ? is showcased in Famine's interview featured in the album's booklet and is materialized by the class musicianship of Famine (guitars), Winterhalter (drums), and Indria (bass). In this French-written interview, Famine says black metal is all about turning the ugly, the disgusting and the horrible into something beautiful. The 2007 follow-up album Folkfuck Folie will show the consolidation and the deepening of this concept.


According to Famine, the overall themes running through "La Sanie des si?cles" are ? a parallel between mediaeval and modern apocalypse; the decline of the current world and the desire to see it die out since it cannot be saved; vengeance and the fantasized return of our Own (our Own: a fallen nobility socially, psychically and physiologically humiliated). Annihilating the world which has annihilated us. It invites people to do so. ? (Zero Tolerance interv 2006)


All the songs, lyrics and solos on "La Sanie des si?cles ? Pan?gyrique de la d?g?n?rescence" were written by La sale Famine de Valfunde exclusively except lyrics of ? Le mort joyeux ? and ? Spleen ? by Charles Baudelaire and ? Dueil Angoisseus ? by Christine de Pisan. All artwork and concept imagined by La sale Famine de Valfunde.

A mixture of sorrow and chaos shines through in both the music and the lyrics which are all written in French. The surprising consistency of the lyrical concept which is interwoven with the music, despite the mix of classic poetry and original work, is illustrated by this fragment of ? Des m?decins malades et des saints s?questr?s ?'s lyrics written by Famine himself in 2003.

? Abois, pogroms, razzias ! Assourdissant chaos !
Vocif?rent les serfs de l'haute Gestapo :
Les dandys de Satan aux lourds casques d'acier
Entassent dans les trains d'?ternels vacanciers ?
? Des m?decins malades et des saints s?questr?s ? by Famine (2003).

? Barkings, pogroms, razzias! Deafening chaos!
The serfs of the high Gestapo are yelling out:
The dandies of Satan with heavy helmets of steel
Cram eternal holiday-makers into the trains ?

This record was limited to 2,000 pieces during its first cycle of pressing but quickly sold-out due to the growth in the band's fanbase, in 2008 it was repressed by Transcendental Creations.

A limited vinyl version co-produced by De profundis ?ditions and Finnish label Ahdistuksen Aihio Productions was released in August 2009.

Track listing
1.Nous sommes fan?s - 02:18
2.Le mort joyeux - 04:40
3.Laus tibi domine - 06:57
4.Spleen - 05:47
5.Phal?nes et pestilence - Salvatrice averse - 11:46
6.Retour de flamme (Hooligan Black Metal) - 04:18
7.Dueil angoisseus (Christine de Pisan, 1362-1431) - 07:02
8.Des m?decins malades et des saints s?questr?s - 09:09
Credits
La Sanie des si?cles ? Pan?gyrique de la d?g?n?rescence studio session:

La Sale Famine de Valfunde - guitars, vocals, bass (on ? Phal?nes et pestilence - Salvatrice averse ?), all songs, solos, lyrics (except lyrics taken from Baudelaire and Christine de Pisan)
Indria - bass
Winterhalter - drums

On bonus demo tracks:
Neige - organ and drums (on ? Nous sommes fan?s ? & ? Des m?decins malades et des saints s?questr?s ?), short guest vocal appearance (on tracks ? Retour de flamme (Hooligan Black Metal) ? & ? Dueil angoisseus ?), bass (on ? Des m?decins malades et des saints s?questr?s ?)

---------------------------

On the second album:

"Folkfuck Folie" is the second album by French black metal band Peste Noire. It follows a similar course as their previous full-length, "La Sanie des si?cles - Pan?gyrique de la d?g?n?rescence", with raw black metal and occasional acoustic guitar breaks, but is a bit much more straight-forward, with a leaning toward much dirtier and thick guitar riffs and tones. This album features the first four tracks of the "Lorraine Rehearsal" EP re-recorded, re-interpreted and re-worked. This album whose lyrics sometimes seem on the verge of autobiography mainly deals with apocalyptic themes, the final triumph of the body over the torments of the mind, primal barbarity, wartime poetry, the spreading of sexually transmitted diseases, or mental disorder which is symbolized by the radio sample of the demented poet Antonin Artaud used as an introduction to the track ? Folkfuck Folie ?. Half of the lyrics were written by Famine and he took the other half from various French authors mainly from the medieval period such as Guillaume de Machaut or Gautier de Coincy to illustrate the parallel between medieval and modern apocalypse he started to evoke with "La Sanie des si?cles - Pan?gyrique de la d?g?n?rescence" 's lyrics. This second album described as ? Folklore d'?gout ? (? Folklore from the sewers ?) by Famine no doubt explores even more filthy and twisted realms than ever before and Famine ironically says that his goal was ? to create the ugliest and most irritating sound possible, in order make the album unlistenable after having heard two songs. You have to be mentally unstable to go through the entire album ? he added. "Folkfuck Folie" almost sounds indeed like a mad musical alchemy where two different records would be crammed together creating some unholy sonic beast, poppy and catchy, but bleak and brutal and demented, an unnatural blackened buzzing freakshow of sound, but always as beautiful and poetic as it is fucked up. "Folkfuck Folie" shows a Peste Noire which is still imbued with a strange pop sensibility wrapped in all manner of fucked up sounds and damaged production. Famine's guitarwork is still very varied, from clean and clear, to muddy and murky, often at the same time, and always in the same song. It sometimes spins into crystalline melodies, delicate and sparkling, other times super dense downtuned buzz, occasionally weird and angular and super mathy.

The album features no copyrights on the album's casing or liner notes.

All the songs, lyrics and solos on "Folkfuck Folie" were written by La sale Famine de Valfunde, except ? La C?sarienne ?'s music written by Neige on a poem by Famine. Neige ? never once played a single guitar riff except those on ? La C?sarienne ?, which was the only song he ever wrote for PN and will ever have written ? Famine stated. By the way, in the studio sessions, Neige only played the second guitar on this track and he doesn't play any other guitar part on "Folkfuck Folie". Famine, who wrote all the other tracks on "Folkfuck Folie", remains the mastermind and exclusive composer behind Peste Noire.

All artwork and concept imagined by La sale Famine de Valfunde.

Track listing
1."L'Envol du Grabataire (Ode ? Famine)" - 03:42
2."Chute Pour Une Culbute" - 03:36
3."La Fin Del Secle" - 04:51
4."D'un Vilain" - 02:46
5."Condamn? ? la Pondaison (L?gende Fun?bre)" - 07:18
6."La C?sarienne" - 03:22
7."Malei?on" - 06:10
8."Amour ne m'amoit ne je li" - 03:04
9."Psaume IV" - 02:57
10."Extrait Radiophonique d'Antonin Artaud" - 00:57
11."Folkfuck Folie" - 04:38
12."Paysage Mauvais" - 05:01

Credits
La Sale Famine de Valfunde - all guitars, vocals
Indria - bass
Winterhalter - drums

Session member: Neige only played the second guitar on "La C?sarienne" and he doesn't play any other guitar part on Folkfuck Folie. Neige also made the vocals on "La C?sarienne" only.