H.O.P.E.
Reason And Divine

Merging, juxtaposing, uniting completely different musical genres is as challenging as inventing a new genre. The experimental choice of this French project by Nicolas Alkariis is not at all comparable to that of Niege in Alcest or the Organ, even though it appears similar: rock and metal sounds, black metal coexisting in the same album.
But while the failure of the Organ, blatantly grotesque, and the perfect fusion of post-rock and black metal of Alcest aim to explore new paths in the fog of repetitiveness that plagues the mind of those who need creativity, the H.O.P.E (Human Or Pain Existence) project aims to highlight the duality of the two genres that alternate, rather than merge. The result is a mosaic of styles that, seen as a whole, gives the illusion of novelty, but specifically gives clear points of reference.
The huge influences are mainly from experimental electronic that only serves as a glue between rock and riffs, tempos, tremolos, and vocal timbres devoted to black metal.
The rock side allows itself to mold too-almost-always to the unmistakable style of Muse...
... complete with Matt Bellamy-style falsetto. It seems like a joke, but the inspiration is unmistakably there. Starting from the first track, "My Own Interior Way", but through more or less all, up to the striking "An Ordinary Morning", in my opinion the most evident in this characteristic and therefore the most successful of the entire album. However, in the same as well as in "Chateau Noir", the black side is not lacking, which will be part of every track on the album just as a coin always has the opposite side to the one we are looking at.
Playing on this ambiguity even in the predominantly English lyrics, the final result is what best represents the contradiction and ambivalence that together, both, determine the typical inconsistency of being human.

The album instantly seems light or heavy or unpleasant precisely because there is no need to assimilate new musical conceptions, Nicolas Alkariis is just a great tailor who knows how to sew well together what already exists.
Technically, there is an evident skill in handling electronics and string instruments, in every emotional leap. The drums are programmed, and therefore not played. The singing is pleasant in both cases, but rarely will satisfy anyone. Besides, who has the courage to admit to being inconsistent?