GROS ROCK by En Fer

Five cuts that in general terms have a leaden and dry rhythmic base (the influence of extreme metal is noticeable in one way or another) over which cyclopean electronic pulses that seek more the atmosphere than the melody itself are ignored. Ululating swings of analog potentiometers intersect with obsessive guitars and constant, catchy percussion like the integuments of a pachyderm's intestinal tract. Charly Buss' mastering is a success; He flees from the pristine to provide a dryness and 'plug and play' sensation that in my opinion is what differentiates EN FER from the vast majority of Space Rock bands that roam Planet Earth. Furthermore, Gros Rock is best heard in one go and without interruptions... a hollow-tipped pill-trip that you know where it comes in but never where it's going to comeout. (...)
A quintet of psychonauts obsessed with navigating between the acetabulums that make up the soundtrack of the fucking cosmos.
EN FER. Hell.
-Colonel Mortimer, La Muerte Tenia Un Blog, Saturday, November 04, 2023 (original text in Spanish)
https://lamuerteteniaunblog.blogspot.com/2023/11/en-fer-gros-rock-autoeditado-2023.html

“En Fer is a semi-improvised sound. There are guides, but at the root, it is without preparation. However, it is difficult to evolve with five musicians in structures like these. It was during the period when we stopped playing shows that we managed to do it. Our chemistry has developed, which has allowed us to solidify our approach,” reports Martin Sasseville.
This gives music with a resolutely rock tone, in which it is pleasant to let yourself be enveloped. The textures change along the way, but there's a beat that ties it all together, the effect of which can be hypnotic."
-Daniel Côté, Le Quotidien, September 19, 2023 (original text in French)
https://www.lequotidien.com/arts/2023/09/19/20-ans-apres-son-depart-martin-sasseville-refera-de-la-musique-au-saguenay-L2B5NSO2GZEQBDQTWA2BVA2MD4/

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En Fer have used the term GROS ROCK to classify their noisy, raw and direct rock and they entitled 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 was 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.
For a multitude of reasons, the release show of the Thêdêf Tïmbâl album in December 2021 was their last to date as of July 2023. 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, 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 and crafted their GROS ROCK. 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...

GROS ROCK

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