Fleurety

In a genre that is inherently extreme, FLEURETY stands out as particularly far out there. I'm not talking about the experimental/avant-garde turn they took in the new millenium---I'm talking about the vocals on their early releases. Fleurety has become known for having some of the most inhuman vocals in extreme metal. But more on that shortly. Let's set the stage first....

Part of the explosion of Norwegian black metal bands in the early 90s, Fleurety (from Norway's Viken region) was formed in 1991 by Varg and Nebiros, taking their name from a demon mentioned in several grimoires.

This is the title track from their Black Snow demo

Initially a death metal band called Transmogrification, it was hearing early second wave black metal masterpieces like Samael's Worship Him and Darkthrone's A Blaze in the Northern Sky that inspired these lads to shift their sound. With this shift, Fleurety joined the still-young Norwegian scene and got to work on new material. The result was the infamous Black Snow demo in 1993.

While the songs on the demo utilized fairly typical guitar riffing for the times, it was---as stated above---the shrill, piercing vocals that set Fleurety apart. They were more high-pitched, with a sound that hurts just to listen to. Fleurety were considered just too weird for even such an extreme genre as black metal. Many fellow Norwegian black metallers lambasted their sound, with some even going so far as to physically attack Nebiros and Varg.

From the 1994 EP, this is "My Resurrection in Eternal Hate"

But they soldiered on. Their demo had caught the attention of record labels, and they signed with British label Aesthetic Records. They released the 7" EP A Darker Shade of Evil through that label. This release showcased a more mature approach to black metal than their demo. It was still in the same style (roughly), but the guitar playing and song structures in general were less amateurish.

Fleurety, however, were just getting started. They returned to the studio and recorded a full-length album: 1995's Min tid skal komme. The weirdness that was only hinted at before had now blossomed into full-fledged progressive tendencies. While the acoustic passages and creative guitar playing could be said to resemble other bands in the Norwegian scene, their songs as a whole veered too far off to the left for the black metal purists now dominating the scene.

"En Skikkelse I Horisonten" is from the '95 full-length

In a way, this progressive approach to black metal could be seen as a precursor to the experimental black metal bands to come. The ethereal atmosphere of Min tid skal komme can be thought of as post-black metal before such a thing existed. Oh, and gone were the shrill inhuman vocals of the early years. Varg (Alexander Nordgaren) could no longer perform those vocals, as he had damaged his vocal chords with such shrill screeches!

Min tid skal komme was Fleurety testing the waters. The band has admitted that progressive music, jazz, and electronica were in heavy rotation at the time, and made its way into their music. The 1999 EP Last Minute Lies was hardly black metal at all, and as a result, Fleurety was dropped from their record label. They were soon, however, picked up by Supernal Records.

A taste of the weirdness that is Department of Apocalyptic Affairs

Their second full-length album, Department of Apocalyptic Affairs, was released in 2000, and it took the experimentalism of the earlier years and ran with it. This album bore little resemblance to anything black metal, yet it featured a host of guest musicians from Norway's black metal scene (including from such stalwarts as Mayhem and Arcturus).  Since this release, Fleurety's style has more or less remained firmly in the realm of the weird and experimental, and would probably not appeal to most black metal fans. That said, if you're an open-minded music lover, it might be worth your while.

Select Discography:

Black Snow (demo) (1993)
A Darker Shade of Evil EP (1994)
Promo '95 (demo) (1995)

Min tid skal komme  (full-length album) (1995)

Next time: FUNERAL WINDS