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French Black Metal band, Cepheide, does not let a listener enter easily through the gates of their torturous, avant-garde-ish and experimental Black Metal. Respire, a two-song album, containing such lengthy tracks as "I. Le souffle brûlant de l'immaculé" and "II. La chute d'une ombre", makes you think of some nightmare-ish madhouse which could be located in the middle of the darkest depths of forest and where all mentally disturbed wackos have gathered for a totally insane noise fest. Insane music meant for insane people, eh?

Truth to be told, I personally don't get much pleasure out of this at all, even if I know I should appreciate all those efforts this French trio has put into these two songs. I mean, everything here sounds a bit too over-the-top to me; a teeny-weeny too disturbed, strange, somehow otherworldly and even beautiful, but in a very twisted way. Cepheide obviously want to separate flesh from the bones more than is even necessary, but I am having a hard time listening to this album, not to mention recommending it to someone who is used to more traditional things in Metal music (or music in general). If you have a more open and just a tad sicker mind than yours truly, Cepheide might well be your next target in terms of sheer musical sickness and quirkiness. Dare to try this out?