Paris Violence – En Attendant L’Apocalypse

Laketown Records / Combat Rock Records / Islika Produktions

 

Last year – 2019 – was the year Paris Violence celebrated their 25th anniversary as a band. If you’re a frequent reader of this page this probably didn’t go unnoticed, as several  reviews popped up on here throughout the year. Not that strange of course, as the intention was to do an average of one release per month. Unfortunately the band stranded at a total of seven, of which I reviewed six in the past year.

 

Though unintentionally on my end, you could definitely say I saved the best for last! Not just because the album “En Attendant L’Apocalypse” truly is some of Paris Violence’s best work – ever, but also because it was the first (and directly the last) reissue of the year on vinyl! A welcoming addition, as the original pressing of 2013 is long gone and pricey to get by!

 

Musically “En Attendant L’Apocalypse” is as sublime as ever! If you read my review on the demo(-recordings) of this LP – released as the “L’Apocalypse Se Fait Attendre” – you could read that I really enjoyed the early versions of the songs that eventually wound up on this album. But after repeatedly listening to the actual full-length again, I can only conclude that none beat  the full-blown, final versions on this record! From opener “D’Outre-Tombe” to the closing track “Confession D’Un Opiomane”, frontman Flav and Spirou (ex-Molodoï) produced hit after hit... after hit!

 

Packed in a beautiful gatefold sleeve, “En Attendant L’Apocalypse” comes on either clear orange, black marbled vinyl (300 copies) or greyish clear, black marbled vinyl (200 copies) – while a reissue on CD is available as well through Combat Rock and Islika Produktions. Must-have!