Paris Violence – La Fascination De L’Abîme
Islika Produktions
Finally it’s here, the reissue of Paris Violence’s third and final chapter in the ‘L’Appel Des Ténèbres’ (‘The Call Of Darkness’) trilogy – “La Fascination De L’Abîme”! Originally released on CD in 2008, this reissue – also on CD – was practically inevitable since the first two chapters, “La Tentation Du Néant” and “La Nostalgie Du Chaos”, were both reissued back in 2019 already. True, it’s out a little later than I thought (in the summer of 2019 I assumed it would be released somewhere later that year), but even I can be wrong every once in a while!
Just like the previous chapters, “La Fascination De L’Abîme” was originally released by Trooper Records and Islika Produktions, and now reissued by the latter. Unlike a good portion of Paris Violence’s reissues, this release doesn’t seem to be re-mastered and if that’s the case (I unfortunately don’t have the original CD from 2008 to compare) I can understand – because “La Fascination De L’Abîme” sounds pretty damn good as it is!
As always, the artwork for this reissue has been re-worked and re-designed, giving it a whole new look. Especially now, when you put the three reissues together, the resembling artwork makes perfectly clear that “La Tentation Du Néant”, “La Nostalgie Du Chaos” and now “La Fascination De L’Abîme” is a trilogy, while the original artwork didn’t really link the three releases together, at least not to me. A smart choice and not just because it looks better, but if you have one – you now want them all, just to complete your set, so to speak.
Now you obviously don’t want a Paris Violence release just for the artwork – though I always think it’s an important part of their releases, especially in Paris Violence’s case, but you do for the band’s significant sound. Now I say band, but it’s actually Oi!-wave master Flav who has written, composed and produced “La Fascination De L’Abîme” all by himself and it must be said, he did an excellent job at doing so! Frequent readers know Paris Violence’s nostalgic, melancholic and unique sound always manages to fascinate me through and through, and the seven tracks on this disc are no exception! With ease tracks like “L’Ordre Et Le Désordre”, “Les Empires Au Crépuscule” and title-track “La Fascination De L’Abîme” ride on the synthesized, French Oi!-waves and as always I can listen to it over and over again!
So if you don’t own the original trilogy and you are a fan, you now know what to do. If you do own the original CD’s and you are not a completest hoarder it might be a tough sale for the time being, though now might just be the good time to propose the release of a double LP or triple 10” set, to get this trilogy out on vinyl as well – who knows!
