Canadian psychedelic/noise-rock outfit En Fer stream their third full-length album »Gros Rock«, available now on CD and all major streaming platforms
Montreal, Canada based psychedelic/noise-rock outfit En Fer has just released their third full-length album »Gros Rock« on August 16th, 2023.
»Gros Rock« is available now on CD and on most streaming platforms.
Tracklist:
01. Mon travail, mon honneur et ma persévérance
02. Padu
03. Procession sur les monts Tenzing
04. Gardiens de l’hassium 270
05. Macula
The age of »Gros Rock« finally arrived…
Since their formation in 2017, Montreal quintet En Fer have used the term »Gros Rock« to classify their noisy, raw and direct rock. The band, made up of musicians who have been active on the Montreal underground scene for decades, chose to title their third album with this term as a declaration of continuity with their adamant musical approach and also to signify the arrival of a new era in their journey.
In fact, the process leading up to »Gros Rock« is a rather long one. Upon the release of their self-titled debut album on Chuchabata Records in 2019, En Fer promised that the next album would be called »Gros Rock«. But when the band fully resumed in the summer of 2021 following a pandemic hiatus, the urgency of the comeback led to a second album called Thêdêf Tïmbâl, an album featuring a more noise-rock sound than their usual mix of doom, free improv and psychedelia.
However, for a multitude of reasons, the Thêdêf Tïmbâl album release show in December 2021 was their last to date. Since this last public appearance, En Fer have retreated to their own SYP Studio in the heart of Montreal’s Little Italy where, strictly reduced to very regular sessions, the creative work to conceive »Gros Rock« has begun in earnest.
With no pressure, no urgency and no gigs to prepare, En Fer perfected its own sound over the months, notably consolidating the synergy between the band’s 5 musicians. The members of En Fer have always considered these sessions to be the heart of the group and its main raison d’être. Conversely to the overused myth of creation through pain, it’s with enthusiasm that the 5 sideronauts took a step back to work on their own sound. Thus, in an organic way, different approaches emerged, already present elements were consolidated and perfected while returning as a whole to a slower, more meditative sound.
Finally, in the spring of 2023, En Fer concluded that the era of »Gros Rock« had arrived…
On »Gros Rock«, En Fer’s approach remains raw, chaotic and unconditionally direct, while the long period of isolation that led to this third opus paved the way for a more massive and evasive sound. In short, the members of En Fer are returning to terra firma, and they’re ready to tell the story of their long journey in the only language they know: the language of »Gros Rock«…
And to mark the arrival of this long-awaited »Gros Rock« album, En Fer will perform their two first shows since 2021, including their first ever presence outside Montréal:
• 2023-08-16 Montréal, QC – Casa del Popolo – with Fred Cracklin and Duplah Pootch Hanichan Gasoliiine
• 2023-09-23 Chicoutimi, QC – Bar à Piton – with Feu-Thétanos and Magicien d’Os
More dates are in the works, and further releases, notably collaborations with other artists, will be released in the near future.
Recorded by En Fer at Studio SYP in January and February 2023.
Mixed by En Fer at Studio SYP in June and July 2023.
Collage and design by Martin Sasseville.
En Fer is Alex Pelchat, Michel Meunier, Charly Buss, Reüel Ordoñez and Martin Sasseville.
Order »Gros Rock« here: ironapproved.bandcamp.com/album/gros-rock
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well