OPHE Somnium Nocte Mendaciis CD

Enter the fractured, hallucinogenic world of Ophe, the avant-garde brainchild of the French multi-instrumentalist Bargnatt Gaskham (known from the cult entity Malhkebre). Released in 2022 by the visionary label My Kingdom Music, Somnium Nocte Mendaciis is not just an album—it is a fever dream captured in silver and polycarbonate. This is French Black Metal at its most experimental, dissonant, and dangerously creative, standing alongside the boundary-pushing legacy of the Légions Noires but with a modern, industrial, and urban decay twist. From the unsettling opening of Tarde, the album spirais into the massive, ten-minute odyssey of Odalisk Incursio Sub Methaqualone, a track that perfectly encapsulates the record’s title (loosely Dreaming of Night Lies). The music is a dizzying mix of jagged riffs, saxophone interventions, and haunting electronics that create a sense of total vertigo. The visceral aggression of Squirting Cadaveribus and the twisted melodies of Partum Chimerae lead the listener deeper into a labyrinth where sanity is a secondary concern. The album’s centerpiece, Decem Vicibus II, is another ten-minute masterclass in atmospheric tension, blending black metal ferocity with a dark, jazzy sophistication that only the French underground can produce. As the record fades through the spectral Noctis Ames into the final echoes of Flores Vere A Peccatis, you are left with the feeling of having survived a ritualistic descent. This CD is a mandatory acquisition for fans of Blut aus Nord, Imperial Triumphant, or DHG who seek music that challenges the listener and redefines the limits of the avant-garde.