There was a time when France was known only for its wine and cheese; in my opinion there was hardly any quality (metal) music from that country. Bands like Yyrkoon and Scarve are pretty well known outside of France, but a lot of other bands keep making music on a fairly anonymous basis. Until a little while ago.

The debut album of Hacride fell on my doorstep and since I never heard of the band, I did a little research. The band was founded in 2001 and the members all have a solid basis of different sorts of metal, varying from thrash to black. Those various backgrounds immediately explain why the music is so varied. While I don’t hear any specific black metal influences, I can clearly make out some other influences; Meshuggah and Strapping Young Lad for instance.

And let me tell you that it doesn’t bother me for one second; the music itself is original enough. Some of the songs have very atmospheric parts which remind me of the Dutchies from Textures.

The music of Hacride is more approachable than the music of the bands I mentioned above, it’s more straightforward and less math-core so to speak. But it kicks major ass; I can’t wait for the next record of these guys! But it has to have more songs than the six (and two demo songs) on ‘Deviant Current Signals’.