-ii- – Apostles of the Flesh Review

By Spicie Forrest

Before you ask, it’s pronounced “two eyes.” -ii- formed in Nancy, France in 2018. Since then, they’ve released a handful of EPs and singles, as well as a debut LP, Extinction, in 2021. Historically a duo—composer/multi-instrumentalist Benjamin Racine and singer Hélène Ruzic—the band brought on multi-instrumentalist Maxime Keller and drummer/percussionist David l’Huillier for their sophomore effort, Apostles of the Flesh.1 As a sucker for anything vaguely sacrilegious, that album title is what caught my interest, and I’m glad it did. Apostles of the Flesh is an intimate and visceral experience, and it’s one you shouldn’t miss.

-ii- is not a metal band. They play what they seem to call “ghost wave,” which sits somewhere between post-rock, goth, darkwave, trip-hop, and industrial, at times recalling HEALTH or Nine Inch Nails. If this sounds fairly electronics-heavy, it is. But on Apostles of the Flesh, -ii- eschews the drum machines and some other electronics of their debut in favor of live instrumentation, and it’s a resounding success. With l’Huillier’s lively drumming and Racine’s unique instruments,2 Apostles of the Flesh feels alive. This organic improvement over Extinction would be nothing to write home about, however, without the impressive songcraft Racine showcases here. Whether it’s a distorted, electronic bridge amidst tribal yet airy instrumentals (“Lotis”), impactful usage of audio effects (“Pearls Beneath the Embers,” “Virginia’s Mirror”), or shimmering synths draped over wistful strings (“The Fountain of Helicon”), everything fits together and flows effortlessly. Of particular note is “When Beauty is a Crime,” where -ii- mirrors its lyrical violence with a tense and uncomfortable atmosphere that refuses to let the listener move on. Apostles of the Flesh is intentional. It’s meticulously crafted. And metal or not, -ii- undoubtedly possesses the Metal Spirit™.

Two elements in particular drive this album’s high caliber: Ruzic’s vocals and l’Huillier’s drums. By turns conflicted (“The Birth of Venus”), seductive (“Sisyphus in Red”), defiant (“Where the Diamonds are Hurled”), and spiteful (“Under the Skin”), Ruzic guides the listener through an examination of the body and its inextricable link to the spirit. Lyrically, she’s transgressive like Ethel Cain or GGGOLDDD, but less direct. Her delivery hies closer to Chelsea Wolfe or Darkher, although -ii- fosters a greater sense of rhythmic urgency. This is largely accomplished by l’Huillier’s standout performance, both carnal and tribal. Hammering at his kit with artful brutality, l’Huillier drives ritualistic numbers (“Sisters of the Coven,” “Digging for Blood”), stricken passages (“Under the Skin,” “When Beauty is a Crime”), and enraptured crescendos (“The Birth of Venus”) with the same skilled hand. The spiraling climax of “The Fountain of Helicon” is a high point, as l’Huillier recklessly hurtles the listener toward the fabled spring. L’Huillier brings an intensity to Apostles of the Flesh that, combined with Ruzic’s provocative and emotive singing, cements this album not just as a collection of good songs, but as an intense, ritualistic experience.

Not only is Racine responsible for the musical arrangements, but he also handles much of the production. The mix is big and spacious, and each instrument gets plenty of room to flourish. Even in the most chaotic moments of Apostles of the Flesh, when drums, vocals, strings, or synths rise to a fever pitch, each element is clear and vibrant (“The Birth of Venus,” “Lotis,” “The Fountain of Helicon”). His use of the soundstage is equally impressive, and because of this, Apostles of the Flesh excels in a pair of headphones over a speaker system. Quivering strings and ethereal synths dynamically float through the space, creating a lost, forlorn sensation on “When Beauty is a Crime” and “Virginia’s Mirror.” Ruzic sounds so close and so private amid the waves and rainfall of spoken word piece “L’Onde et l’Abysse,” it’s as if she speaks to the listener alone.

Apostles of the Flesh is not an album to play in the background, and it’s not for everyone. It demands both your attention and an emotional investment to shine, but shine it does. Some might balk at a 65-minute runtime or note that several songs go on long after Ruzic is done singing. I consider it a testament to Racine’s compositional prowess that these longer outros feel valuable and that the album holds my attention front to back. Apostles of the Flesh is passionate, vulnerable, and cathartic. For those willing to commit, -ii- offers an intense, surreal journey you won’t soon forget.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: PCM
Label: Self-Released
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | Youtube
Releases Worldwide: October 3rd, 2025

#2025 #40 #ApostlesOfTheFlesh #ChelseaWolfe #Darkher #Darkwave #Electronica #EthelCain #FrenchMusic #GGGOLDDD #Goth #HEALTH #II #Industrial #NineInchNails #Noise #Oct25 #PostRock #Review #Reviews #SelfReleased #Shoegaze #Synthwave #TripHop

A #capa que me vem à mente para o #musiquinta desta semana já a partilhei por aqui no ano passado:
https://ciberlandia.pt/@marado/112008242857657770

Comprei este #EP de #GGGOLDDD (chamado #PTSD) sem me aperceber o quão fixe era a capa, e se calhar sem ter noção de que este disco ia tocar tanto quanto já tocou.

Para música a ilustrar o disco, pode ser esta (mas se gostarem, vale a pena ouvir o resto do disco!):
https://gggolddd.bandcamp.com/track/old-habits-ptsd-version

Kalandra – A Frame of Mind [Things You Might Have Missed 2024]

By sentynel

Before festivals, I like to listen to at least a song or two for every band on the lineup I don’t know so I can optimize my schedule.1 When Kalandra came up as I prepared for ATG, I had to force myself to stop listening and move to the next band. “Folk/prog rock, really good, definitely see,” I wrote. This was an understatement. Their set was fantastic. Some bands just have presence. Through some combination of writing, musicianship, and the way they move, they step out onto the stage and everybody is immediately captivated. Kalandra is one of them. From their opening notes, they conjure something spellbinding… and then Katrine Stenbekk sings, and the results are something else.

Folk/prog rock is indeed the basis on A Frame of Mind. Acoustic guitars and strings play Nordic folk-inflected melodies. Electric guitars, distorted but rarely harsh, come in for the swells and crescendos. The instrumentation alone is great. The composition is consistently stellar. The use of, and transitions between, sparse and heavy movements are deft and surprising. Every song is beautiful and atmospheric. (Just bathe in the interlude track “Hytta,” for example.) But the real standout is the vocals. Katrine Stenbekk is incredibly charismatic and emotive. She flows from fragile to powerful, warm and folky to cutting, often within a single song. Live, she’s even better, as she’s also a great performer. This isn’t to say this is a one-woman show; her voice ebbs and flows with the instruments. Little musical twists reflect and reinforce the lyrics and stick in your mind.

A Frame of Mind tackles some heavy themes with an openness and occasionally bluntness that recalls GGGOLDDD, and this is a major contributor to its success. Opening track “I Am” is about generational trauma. “Are You Ready?” is a wonderfully creepy song about cult recruiting. The different perspectives are woven subtly through the music, and I adore how the song shifts as the narrator gets drawn in. “I Remember a Time” and “The State of the World” discuss, well, the state of the world, with a level of self-awareness that lands what’s ultimately a naively hopeful message in a bleak place. “Bardaginn” is perhaps the most straightforward, and heaviest, song on the record, with a great groove. It’s also written in Old Norse (helpfully with an official translation provided), about fighting on when it’s hopeless. It’s rare that I particularly care about the lyrics on a record, and it’s the interesting subjects combined with composition that actually works with the lyrics that pull me in here.

Kalandra are one of those bands where I wonder how I didn’t discover them earlier. Everything about them appeals to me, and their prior album The Line is also brilliant but had entirely passed me by. Fortunately, those of you who had also missed Kalandra need do so no longer. I cannot recommend A Frame of Mind enough. Clever writing, gorgeous atmosphere, moving themes, and the year’s best vocal performance make for a fantastic album.

Tracks to Check Out: “Are You Ready?,” “Bardaginn,” “The State of the World,” “I Am”

#2024 #AFrameOfMind #FolkRock #GGGOLDDD #Kalandra #NorwegianMetal #ProgressiveRock #ThingsYouMightHaveMissed2024

As randomly chosen by survey* on Mastodon, our next spotlight is on number 54 on The List, submitted by mbr.

Before working on this spotlight, I was aware of GGGOLDDD’s 2022 brave and difficult** album This Shame Should Not Be Mine, which was written as a commissioned piece for the 2021 online version of Roadburn (with the live album then released the same day as the studio version). What I think I missed though was that somewhere around TSSNBM, GOLD changed their name to GGGOLDDD, meaning Why Aren’t You Laughing? is from the very same band.

Given the heavy lyrics of TSSNBM, I would definitely recommend starting with WAYL? first. It’s a really interesting mix of gothic-tinged post-rock/-metal with great vocals from Milena Eva that give off some Kristin Hersh vibes, some Brutus vibes, and even some Aurora vibes (especially in “Taken By Storm”). If you’re then hooked and are in a good place, give TSSNBM a spin.

• Bandcamp: GOLD – Why Aren’t You Laughing?
• Discogs: GOLD – Why Aren’t You Laughing?

*The survey choices that led to this spotlight were “Turned away from it all like a blind man”, “Sat on the fence but it don’t work”, “Keep comin up with love but it’s so slashed & torn”, and “Why, why, why?”, following the earlier survey that had “It’s the terror of knowing what this world’s about”, “Watching some good friends screaming, ‘Let me out’”, “Pray tomorrow gets me higher”, and “Pressure on people, people on streets”. The last phrase was the winning selection, so the survey result was translated as picking the first album in The List with one of the phrase’s words in the title, the matching word here being, obviously, “why”.
**The lyrics of TSSNBM were written by singer Eva about when she was raped as a teenager, and her trauma around that situation.

https://1001otheralbums.com/2024/09/13/gold-why-arent-you-laughing-2019-netherlands/

#1001OtherAlbums #2010s #GGGOLDDD #gothRock #Netherlands #postmetal #postrock

après deux ans, je décroche enfin de This Shame Should Not Be Mine pour revenir sur un de leurs anciens albums...

quel groupe quand même...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8r_s8cItRc

#GGGOLDDD #RadioPouet #NowPlaying

🎶 it goes to show that I've lost control
dragging myself through the dirt
to be secure I have to obey
the world just likes me mad that's not okay 🎶

ce couplet de Old Habits me tabassera la gueule jusqu'à la fin des temps...

https://gggolddd.bandcamp.com/album/ptsd

#GGGOLDDD #RadioPouet #NowPlaying