EPK – Thrash La Reine – Notre-Dame-de-l’Enfer (Bam&Co. Heavy) (2021)
Publicist – Jon Asher – jon[@]ashermediarelations[.]com
For fans of Alestorm, Powerwolf, Ghost, King Diamond, Anonymus
Album Title: Notre-Dame-de-l’Enfer
Release Date: October 29, 2021
Label: Bam&Co. Heavy
Distribution: Propagande (physical) – Believe Digital(Digital)
“‘Notre-Dame-de-l’Enfer’ is an album about French Canadian folk tales. Most of these stories occur at night, in the cold countryside of the province of Quebec. We made an album that reflects this cold and dark atmosphere. For example, we used down-tuned guitars and bass to create a sonic atmosphere that seems to come from the depths of the Appalachian mountains. Many of these stories happened in the 18th century during festivities, we also tried to capture the festive aspect of these folklores, including a lot of gang vocals. We incorporated some traditional instruments into this album like mandoline, acoustic guitar, strings, accordion, and cowbell! The kind of singing and harmonies we use on this album are also reminiscent of traditional chant.” – Thrash La Reine
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“If you’re looking for some catchy, clean and fun heavy metal, this EP delivers the good.” – The Metal Crypt
“Thrash la Raine was an interesting and weird combination: I hadn’t heard french metal in a while, yet their sound was similar to a band like Tribunal. Their songs ranged in subject from the plains of Abraham in Quebec, to dragons: this band has it all… fun and enjoyable to watch. ” – CJLO 1690 AM (Montreal, QC) (Live Review opening for Blaze Bayley – May 12, 2019)
“This is genuinely one of the finest albums of a year packed with incredible albums. All in all, Thrash La Reine are incredibly talented, as is clearly shown by how wonderfully they’ve blended different Metal sub-genres with some slight punk influence and very subtle Gothic undertone, all adding up to create a sound that is nothing short of an absolute joy to listen to. This album is simply euphoria in the form of French language Heavy Metal.” – Overdrive Mag
“flawless musicianship and excellent songwriting.” – Eternal Terror
“They are opening for a lot of bands for various walks of life. They have opened for some really established local bands and are definitely making a name for themselves. They have a refreshing sound and a very mature approach to their music and give one hell of a show. I had the chance to see them live a few weeks back and they have such energy and poise, it was a treat to see. They are not intimidated at all by the stage and they delivered some great tracks from their new album and even if they were the first band on stage that night, they established the frenetic pace nonetheless. 9/10” – Metal Temple
“Question musique, on navigue en plein dans le territoire de Running Wild (Garde La Foi) et Helloween (Thrash La Reine / Le Rédempteur), sur fond de propos dénonçant la religion, le pouvoir et la manipulation, avec toujours cet optimisme propre à tous les fans du genre qui fait perdurer la passion depuis les origines de notre musique préférée. Et quel son ! La production est vraiment très soignée et ne présage que le meilleur pour l’avenir, car si un mini-LP sonne de cette manière, que dire d’un futur album?” – No Name Radio
“Thrash La Reine is simply a wonderful trio of talented musicians who wear their influences on their sleeves. I can only imagine how potent and energetic their live performances are. My choice pick is “Le Redempteur” with its beautiful serpentine riffs and a classic speed metal feel, it thoroughly rocks. This album is exceptionally impressive and their musicianship is perfectly balanced. And they hail from Canada where my ancestors originated.” – Boston Rock Radio
“This album is simply euphoria in the form of French language Heavy Metal.” – Pinnacle Music
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FUN FACTS ABOUT THE BAND
1. Too many times, French-speaking people write their band name ‘Trash La Reine’ and not ‘Thrash La Reine’. They have to educate them about the difference between trash and thrash!
2. The band recorded the last songs of the album “Notre-Dame-de-l’Enfer” using the Voivod drums and amps that were in the studio.
3. For the song ‘Au Chant de l’Alouette’, we worked on three different versions of the song, to only choose one at the end.
4. The name Thrash La Reine means Thrash The Queen. Renaud got the idea while visiting London and thought it would be nice to see the Queen in a moshpit, thrashing to the sound of electric guitars and drums.
5. As a trio, the band was originally called Triforce, but too many people thought they were a Zelda tribute band.
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Album Title: Notre-Dame-de-l’Enfer
Release Date: October 29, 2021
Label: Bam&Co. Heavy
Distribution: Propagande (physical) – Believe Digital(Digital)
Track Listing:
1. La Plainte de l’Alouette (0:36)
2. L’Étranger (4:32)
3. La Chasse-Galerie (4:29)
4. Le Rigodon de l’Enfer (0:25)
5. Au Chant de l’Alouette (3:00)
6. Wendigo (3:36)
7. La Cage de Fer (4:02)
8. Une Heure Avant l’Aube (1:06)
9. Operation Neptune (3:25)
10. Les Trois Diables (4:42)
11. Le Diable En Personne (0:33)
12. Le Fantome de l’Avare (4:35)
13. Legende d’Antan (7:27)
Album Length: 42:34
Album Recording Credits:
• All songs performed by: Thrash La Reine
• All songs written by Renaud Baril (except au chant de l’alouette)’
• Produced by: Thrash la Reine (Renaud Baril, Anthony Domm-Bélisle, Guillaume Leblanc)
• Mixed by: Francis Perron
• Mastered by: Yannick St-Amand
• Album Artwork by:
• Member of SOCAN
• Music is Canadian Content (MAPL)
Album Band Line Up:
Renaud Baril: Guitar + vocals
Anthony Domm-Bélisle: Bass + Back vocals
Guillaume Leblanc: Drums + Back vocals
Discography:
2021 – Notre-Dame-de-l’Enfer (LP)
2019 – La Foi, La Loi, La Croix (EP)
2018 – Le Métal Est Notre Langue (EP)
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Track by track explained by the band:
1. La plainte de l’alouette:
This is the introduction of the album. We took the main melody of the song ‘Au chant de l’alouette’ and arranged it with accordion and strings so it starts the album with an epic introduction. It has the feeling of a mortuary march at the same time.
2. L’étranger: (the stranger)
This song is about a story that occurred in the 19th century. In a village, there are festivities to celebrate Mardi Gras.
A young couple continues to celebrate past midnight. A mysterious man gets into the party and seduces the young woman. This mysterious man is in fact the devil who got in the party to possess the young woman’s soul and punish her for her sins!
Musically, this song is a lot about the narration of the story. There are some gang vocals to impersonate the ‘village folks’, some more growl vocals to represent the devil. And a narrative part in the bridge to impersonate the priest, who gets in the party to chase the devil.
3. Au chant de l’alouette: (the lark song)
This song is a cover of an actual French Canadian folk song, that we redid in a more rock / metal way. It is a ‘chanson à répondre’ (answering song?) which is a traditional type of French Canadian song. It means that the lead singer sings the first line of the verse, then this same line is repeated by other singers or by the crowd. The harmony in the bridge is also typical of Quebec music, where one voice sings the same note while the lead voice sings a melody.
We also added some cowbell to the song the get the party in!
4. Wendigo:
This song is probably the heaviest song of the album, with heavy bass, fast-picking guitar and more growling vocals. The wendigo is a cannibalistic creature, descended from the mythology of the Algonquian First Nations, which has spread throughout North American folklore. This song is about getting lost in the Appalachian Mountains and getting hunted by cannibalistic creatures!
5. La chasse-galerie: La chasse-galerie is probably the most well know French Canadian legend. This legend tells the story of woodcutters who make a pact with the devil on new year’s eve, so they can fly on a mystical canoe to go visit their girlfriend and party with their folks! Musically speaking, this song starts with a darker energetic mood. But in the middle, when the crew arrives at the party, the mood of the song changes to something more joyful!
6. Operation Neptune: this song is a more classical thrash / heavy metal song with some motorhead vibes. It is a bit different than the other songs on the album. It does not relate to any legend of the 18th century on Quebec but is about the Normandy landing which occurred on June 6th, 1944 during World War II. On this date, many soldiers sacrificed their lives to take back control of the French coasts. We thought it was a story worth mentioning on this album!
7. La cage de fer: (The iron cage) This song is inspired by the legend of Marie-Joseph Corriveau. She is a woman who got hang in the 18th century after being accused of the murder of her husband and witchcraft. This is another really important legend of French Canadian folklore. This song is really slower and darker than the rest of the album with mellow verses and a more aggressive chorus. this song has more of a ‘doom metal’ feeling.
8. Les 3 diables: (the 3 devils) This song is a mix of thrash metal and typical quebecker’s answering song ! It tells the stories of a drunken woman ‘Germaine’, who sells her soul to three devils so she can continue to drink. She succeeds to foul these devils and continues her life of debauchery !
9. Le fantôme de l’avare: (the ghost of the greedy man) This one is another more mellow song on the album, with clean guitar in the verses and heavy rhythm in the chorus. It tells the story, of a rich man that refuses to give shelter to a traveler on new year’s eve. The next morning he finds the body of the traveler dead, frozen in the snow. The rich man is full of guilt and commits suicide. For the next 50 years, he continued to haunt his house until he finally gives shelter to a traveler on new year’s eve.
10. Légende d’antan (ancient legend): this song is the 7 minutes epic song of the album! This song has a more progressive structure, starting with a mid-tempo guitar-driven melody. Then, the bridge starts with this smooth bluesy melody to build upon more heavy riffs. Then, the bridge ends with a heavy thrashy part.
This song is not about a specific legend of Quebec’s folklore, but regroups many story ideas (werewolves, will’o the wisp. It is about the nostalgia of being reunited around a campfire and telling stories until dawn.
Thrash La Reine is a Montreal-based French heavy metal trio founded in 2017. Meaning ‘Thrash The Queen’ in English, they choose that name for a variety of reasons including questioning the foundation of power in Western culture as well as perhaps seeing a Queen being rocked in a mosh pit. This was also the title of the first song they wrote, comprising styles of their main influences of thrash and power metal.
Aside from inspiration from classic heavy metal bands they pay homage to their home city and the francophone punk bands that were notorious in the Montreal scene during their college years. In each song, they mix the epic themes of power metal with the social topics of punk and thrash metal to make a style that they dubbed ‘’Epic Thrash’’.
Claiming to not be inventing anything, they do offer something that sounds new and fresh, especially with their exclusively French lyrics that let them share Montreal’s culture while being accessible to everyone around the world. Each song tells a story, from French Canadian culture to video game addiction to classic thrash anthems.
In 2017, in their home studio, they recorded a first EP called ‘’Le Metal Est Notre Langue’’. Since then, they have opened for artists such as Judas Priestess (US) and Tim Ripper Owen (US). In 2018, a second EP ‘’La Foi, La Loi, La Croix’’ was recorded. The recording and mixing were done at Studio Wild with Pierre Rémillard (Anonymus, Cryptopsy) and mastered by Jacob Hansen in Denmark.
Now in 2021, Thrash La Reine return with a new album entitled “Notre-Dame-de-l’Enfer” set for release in the Fall. This time around the band is taking a bit of a different direction, evolving their sound with thrash and incorporating more folk metal influences to create a concept album devoted to French Canadian Folklores. Adding in a festive chorus with gang vocals along with introducing some instruments from French Canadian folk music such as acoustic guitars, cowbells, mandoline, strings, and accordion.
“There is an important religious background in the history of Quebec, so of course these stories are about ghosts, witches, and devils! We incorporated a couple of different instrument and back vocals ideas, with harmonies that are reminiscent of Quebec traditional music. We can say that this album is our attempt to make a metal opera about our French Canadian folk tales. We can also add, that singing metal in French can be a challenge, as there are not that many references in terms of lyrics and how it should sound. For this second album, we have learned from experience, which sounds are great and which ones should be used more carefully. French is full of ‘ee’ ‘ou’ ‘shhh’ that can be difficult to sing. On the other hand, French is full of words with ‘eu’ ‘a’ ‘Rrr’ that are really nice to sing in a metal context.” comments the band.
For “Notre-Dame-de-l’Enfer”, Thrash La Reine worked closely with producer Francis Perron (Voivod – The Wake) to create an album of 13 tracks: 9 full songs and 4 instrumental interludes. For the record’s lead single ‘Au Chant de l’Alouette’, Thrash La Reine collaborated with local Montreal band Nova Spei vocalist Dany Duplessis for backing vocals along with him guesting on the song ‘Wendigo’.
Overall, the concept album will connect with many local Quebec fans, but the band’s goal is to also expose French Canadian culture to more metalheads around the globe.
“Notre-Dame-de-l’Enfer” is slated for release on October 29, 2021.
Shared Stage with:
Blaze Bayley, Tim “Ripper” Owens, Shawn & Glen Drover, West Of Hell, Judas Priestess, Sans Amertume, Fractal Cypher
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