Ah, some devil’s music is, yet again, on the menu. You know, traditional Heavy Metal fare that the old folks around the late ’70s honestly thought rolled in straight through the gates of hell. There wasn’t much metal around these days, so this must have sounded like Gehenna reincarnated for some. Most of it was Hard Rock with some early metal injected for good measure. Case in point, Tygers of Pan Tang just graced our review pipe. And they started their songsmithing in ’78, together with Saxon and a few more. Trespass really hit the scene around ’79 or so. It was fertile ground back then, with a lot of enthusiasm builders of new things usually deploy.
So, fast forward to modern times with the Canadian band Meurtrier and their piece Messe De Fer (Iron Mass) firmly in our sights. And – sure enough – Old Nick is already in the album art. Or is it the now-defunct Ozzy Osbourne, also known as the Prince of Darkness by fans and haters alike? So, here we have a dark figure cutting a half-naked woman with a ceremonial sword1, crosses upside down in some sort of desecrated church, and the royal ‘Fleur de Lys'2 carved into the pillars. The cover positively screams early Black Sabbath. And with so much occultism and drama, this gotta be good. Right? Let them boyz from Quebec and environs do their deed, then.
Meurtrier3 is a young band. Brought to life in 2023, its members converged from – and I quote – “…the ranks of seasoned veterans of the Québec and Montréal metal underground.” I’m not sure about the veteran status, but yes, they’ve all been in bands before. And they’re on a mission to “…resurrect the fierce spirit of classic heavy and speed metal…”, which indeed is a noble goal. To top it all, the act’s hellbent on delivering everything through a “…distinctly French-Canadian lens…”, expressed in “…French-language lyrics.” Meaning, the darkly brooding backbone theme is – allegedly – driven by nationalistic ideologies and the often starry-eyed, lofty ideals of ‘La Francophonie’.4 But we’re not here to discuss thorny political issues. So, let’s concentrate on the metal on offer here.
First off, I am not a great fan of the use of French in traditional Heavy Metal specifically. Black Metal – by contrast – is a totally different story. The grating, snarky snarls you get there are straight evil and on point. This language really works well with trve menace, strangely enough. And there are exceptions, of course. Sortilège, the Heavy Metal act mentioned in the promo text, is one of them. But let’s not forget that this wobbly gaggle’s last full-length release with real new material dates back to 1986, exactly 40 years ago.
Messe de Fer‘s fare sports a neat pace straight down the tracklist, and the Heavy Metal on offer is solid on the merits. Albeit the RMR crew and Meurtrier seem to have a slightly different understanding of velocity in Speed Metal. But that’s a matter of debate, of course. The moment the production starts to kick in earnestly, however, things take a turn for the worse. The band hits you with a garage-type production, plagued by pretty simple songwriting, with all the questionable grace of a recording happening in a spacious basement somewhere.
But there’s more. The guitars and drums constantly usurp the front center in the mix, leaving little space for the vocals to develop and shine. And this lets Anthony Verreault‘s lyrics erupt onto the scene in a terribly anemic and often outrageously monotone fashion. And please, somebody take the fucking reverb controls away from whoever mixed and mastered Messe de Fer. Verreault‘s vocals sound like emerging from a bathroom when the sink is clogged, everything’s overflowing, and the occupant just broke off the key in the lock. And then, there’s the thing with those dreadful, sometimes off-kilter, metal screams. Methinks we’re far from the geekery of Niklas Isfeldt (Dream Evil) or Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden) back in their heyday.
And yet. The two axemen truly are gifted guitarists. You’ll be treated to some outstanding moments of string magic. Meaty riffs, stunning solos, and sturdy galloping about the soundscape truly stood out from the overall offering on this record. Bête de l’Ombre probably best demonstrates the power of the guitbox warriors on here. Even if the borrowed bridge sounds more amateur than it actually should. But not all is well in axeland, either. Sans Trône – for instance – matter-of-factly contains pilfered riffs in full Iron Maiden mode, with one guitar solo getting terribly off track.
Ultimately, Meurtrier may have bitten off more than they can chew on their debut, Messe de Fer. It’s no surprise that fans tell of wondrously powerful live sessions on steroids. The whole record sounds like one. In unfiltered mode, on stage with no restraints holding you back, all those impurities we found on the record might even sound alluring. After all, free-wheeling live concerts need to be wild, scratchy, and delivered with exuberant energy. And nobody will care about a few mishaps here and there as long as the beer is flowing and the roar of the metal crowd is dwarfing Thor’s warhammer. However, on an official album, and even at live events following the release of one, standards and expectations are very different. And on those, Meurtrier still have a lot of work to do.
Record Rating: 4/10 | Label: Jawbreaker Records | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 25 September 2026
- How cliché. Reminds me of them age-old pulp fiction covers. -Ed.-↩
- Lily flower or flower of the iris, translated straight. But this is the Royal Lily, the sign of French Royalty, of heraldry from ancient times.-↩
- Murderer in French. This one was easy.-↩
- La Francophonie – Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francophonie.-↩