Learn more about Black Chair Rite's debut album!

Sludge metallers Black Chair Rite are here to talk about their debut album and the whole writing/recording process behind this record. Check out our interview below!
Photo de Lionshugo

Hey Black Chair Rite! For those who might discover your band via this interview, would you mind introducing yourselves and your sound?

We are a sludge metal band, we like to call “Mountain Sludge” as we come from the french alps. Our sound is raw, angry, loud and live. The best way to get an idea is to watch the video “Trucks” on our YouTube page, images and sound are stronger than words! The band members are David (guitar and vocals), Mehdi (drums and backing vocals), Jordan (bass) and Joachim (guitar).

How would you describe your local metal scene?

It’s alive! There are plenty of good bands like The Third Project, Ecclesia, Parjure, Until Therapy, From Hell With Love … We shared the stage with bands from other styles as well, like The Midnight Computers, a cold wave project that kicks asses.

Let's talk about your debut album. How long have you worked on this release?

We worked on this release for two years, and we feel like it’s not finished yet. We are about to start the first gigs where we will have the beautiful CD on the merch (and a nice Backdrop made by Distrolution Merch). We are currently thinking about when to put it on the streaming platforms.

How would you describe your writing process for this record and where did you find your overall inspiration?

David, Mehdi and Jordan wrote a first version of the songs in early 2020. Later that year Joachim joined the band and we worked on the new arrangements together. We all listen to a lot of music and different styles, black metal, sludge, hardcore, rap, folk etc. We agreed to gravitate around bands like Crowbar, Killing Joke, Redscale, Paradise Lost, Neurosis, Mars Red Sky … as main influences, then each of us add some salt or pepper from their own playing. This is a framework we find healthy, we are not afraid to go far from it, but we know what is the general spirit we want to play around. Everyone is included in the writing process, we are free to try any idea. At the end we choose what works best for the songs.

Any funny stories to share from your recording sessions?

We have been completely crazy about the amount of time we booked for the recording sessions. We choose to play all the instruments live in the same room without a click, in two days. Then we did the vocals on another weekend. We are very happy with the result, but it was greedy, we couldn't edit anything, it had to be played well by everyone in an insanely short amount of time. We worked our asses off for months and thanks to LE BRISE GLACE, (a venue, rehearsal facilities and other things in Annecy) we did a lot of practice before. Special thanks to Stéphane and Adrien who helped us with analytic listening during the process. On the last day of the vocal recording we requested Sté, who is a very good singer, to add some female backing vocals for two songs. Everyone insisted, even the sound guys. She was quite upset about the fact that we asked her on the spot and we could have asked her before, but she nailed it as we expected.

Please describe the artwork of your album. What’s the idea behind the visual?

The cover is a painting made by Mehdi, the drummer. It’s a desolate landscape, with no sign of life, everything is burnt, it looks like ash and fire. Pretty nihilistic like our texts. It reflects the destruction of both our environment and of ourselves. It’s not too dark either, there is a place for the light. In our music there is a cathartic aspect, it’s a space where we can let out our anger and frustration. We have as well an old school french romantic influence, making something beautiful with dirt and depression. The roots of the trees that go deep inside the earth are a reference to the title of the albums and the first song “Your rotting entrails”, a story about a crazy guy who killed his wife to keep her close to him and obedient forever. There is the logo on the moon, Batman style. Hugo made the photos and the layout of the digipak. Dissidence Design made the logos for the band.

The last words are for you. If you have any other projects in the making or a message to convey, here's your chance!

For now we don’t have any distributor so if you want an album just DM us on social media! Stay tuned for the next releases and gigs, we are already working on the next album and playing live as much as possible!