If purgatory ever tired of its religious stature and formed a record label to cure its boredom, chances are it'd sign L'Homme Puma.
A cross-culture, sample-heavy instrumental melee of hard rock and indie fusion, the French band teeters somewhere between the opalescent gates of heaven and the earthly, oh-so-standard sin of man. Nonchalantly fusing Charles Manson sound bites with Presidential speeches, and tying the two together with ridiculously heavy riffs and occasional Envy-ish screaming, the band steps firmly out of the genre spotlight and dwells in the shadows of instrumental limbo.
A series of moving snapshots, the disc opens with the above-mentioned famous audio samples, layered lightly with a piano solo and operatic chant, before glitzing out into the first full-length track, “Votre Regne S'Acheve”. The typical post-rock listener is accustomed to the use and occasional abuse of sound bites in intro tracks, so it may seem surprising to hear them strewn throughout the second song, and the third... and so on. Instead of utilizing the bites as musical breaks and interludes, L'Homme Puma instead fuses them in as an integral part of their creation. In fact, without exaggeration, the audio samples are the heart of their musical body, providing energy and pumping blood into other instrumental and vocal limbs.
The first presence of traditional post-rock guitar work appears on “Prelude d'un Baiser”, albeit short lived before being eclipsed by a Full Metal Jacket clip (can't go wrong with skull-fucking now...) and L'Homme Puma's soon to be trademarked French shrieking. The combination of eccentric tendencies may seem convoluted at first glance, but in actuality the unorthodox sequencing flows incredibly well, pushing the tracks into perplexing, often unexplored, areas of musical theory and execution.
The experimentation picks up speed on “6h22 un 20 Septembre” and “Solidaire dans la Decheance”, squishing more film clips and foreign conversations into layered, heavy riffs that are broken apart by solo key work and tight, sharp percussion that seems to pop in with a BOOM at the most opportune moment.
While the cinematic samples are the driving force on the record, it's important to note how elegantly the instrumentation builds around them and often times props them up to become something more than just a memorable line from a movie or historic figure. The rhythm developed and practiced by the band throughout the entire disc seems to adapt effortlessly to the shifting tones and moody transformations; gentle and serene one moment, grinding with ferocity the next. Honestly, how many bands can bounce from Charles Manson to Chevy Chase? Indeed, a remarkable feat in a genre that prides itself on repetition.
Needless to say, “L'Homme Puma” is not a band who will gain mass appreciation upon first listen. Critics will pass off the recording as a novel fusion of melody and audio feeds, but in doing so they are ignorant of the larger picture: a melding of diverse musical craft and imagination coupled with supreme technical aptitude. Perhaps it's true that being smashed between genres, between heaven and hell, L'Homme Puma lacks a solid identity in the world of instrumental rock. However, as fans begin to grow weary of the commonly-themed post-rock ventures, bands who occupy the fringe of experimentation, or those completely out in left-field (yes, the above reference was to the serial killer and the comic, respectively), will gather appreciation and a growing fan base. In other words, there's hope for ascension.
-Jonathan Brooks