Review
Thirty years into their tenure, Geneva's Impure Wilhelmina have made the radical decision to write and perform entirely in their native tongue. Le sanglot trades the sharp-edged, urgent metal of their past for a slower, more desolate disposition. The shift to French introduces a "somber weight" and "controlled gloom" to the band's catalog, altering how these meticulously textured arrangements "sit and breathe".
Critics find this transition yields a quieter, more patient record. Heavy Blog Is Heavy describes the album as a "generally more languid affair," comparing its tense, pre-storm atmosphere to "pressurised, gray doldrums". In this space, they bridge post-punk poetry with metal to evoke a mature, accepting sorrow. Still, the stylistic pivot has polarized some; The Razor's Edge laments that the "loose structure is entirely that; loose. Too loose," cautioning that the tracks risk getting lost in "post-metal purgatory". What remains is a beautifully downcast experiment in restraint.
