I finally had the opportunity last year to hear (and review) Sortilège's Larmes de héros album, one I'd seen a few times back in the '80s but never plunked down the money to buy and therefore, never heard. Pretty good stuff, as it turns out, and now I have the second release from the version of the band (the name is disputed by opposing factions from the '80s lineup) featuring original singer Christian Augustin, Apocalypso. Too many bands from the '80s have reformed and done their legacy a disservice with lackluster albums of warmed-over hard rock, but not Sortilège. Apocalypso brandishes some fine bruising traditional metal (with a modern production, of course) that's right in line with their earlier works. Tracks like "Poseidon," "Trahison," and "Vampire" are feasts of riffs with Augustin's gravelly shout riding the distortion wave. "Attila" slows things down but still manages to evoke hordes of Mongols trampling the steppes, then the band heads from Southern Asia to Mesopotamia with "Derrière les portes de Babylone" and tears it up with an excellent Middle Eastern influenced melody. The ballad "Encore un jour" is the only song that doesn't do anything for me. It isn't bad, it just has nothing in the way of distinctiveness and is simply there. Otherwise, there's little to dislike about Apocalypso. If you are into traditional metal, especially the newer stuff from bands like Torch, Weapon UK and especially Diamond Head, that have released killer albums 40+ years into their careers, you need to get in on Sortilège.
