The Old Dead Tree
The Nameless Disease

Released in 2003 under Season Of Mist (and how could it be otherwise?), "The Nameless Disease" represents the first full-length by the Parisians The Old Dead Tree, four years after the demo "The Blossom". What happened during this long period? The group, ready for a quality leap, had to face an unexpected and premature loss: that of drummer and co-founder Frédéric Guillemot, who committed suicide in 1999 shortly after the release of the mini CD. A severe blow for the three French guys, who, after an initial and understandable disorientation, decided to move on; in fact, starting again from this tragedy and channeling all its negativity into the compositions that would become "The Nameless Disease".

The nameless discomfort is depression, which led to their friend's death and inevitably grips those who are left behind. In more than one interview, singer/guitarist Manuel Munoz (the only founding member left in TODT) stated that at the time his feelings were of infinite sadness, anger, but also guilt for not understanding the extent of Frédéric's suffering and therefore not preventing his extreme act. The album's lyrics thus explore the wide spectrum of emotions and sensations surrounding such a delicate theme as suicide, but they are treated with never banal sensitivity. Evidently the result of a sincere vocation for writing. In the lyrics, nothing is "shouted", everything is said simply and in terms of the cold impotence of realizing that nothing remains before death but to acknowledge it. So, for example, in "We Cry As One" Munoz wonders what the words of a priest mean for the death of a boy he never knew; in "It Can't Be" what was the point of planning the band's future together; in "How Could You" the anger against Frédéric explodes for having hidden from everyone the suffering he was enduring. But it is precisely this anger that brings a glimmer of light amidst so much pain...

The music equally supports this alternation of moods, painting a rich palette of chromatic ranges where the net hues dominate: the black of deep and endless pain, the orange of anger, and the red of blood. Guitars and vocals balance the fury of riffs bordering on death/thrash and a warm and extremely clear growl ("It's The Same For Everyone", "Joy & happiness", "Quietly Kissing Death"), with acoustic openings and Munoz's voice, excellent even in the clean parts ("Somewhere Else"). Equally refined are the intersections between the two axes (Nicolas Chevrollier on rhythm guitar) and between these and the bass (Vincent Danhier). The drums are powerful yet straightforward (Frank Métayer). The electronic inserts are, I'd say, reduced to the essential. Try if the opening duo "We Cry As One" and "It Can't Be" don't immediately imprint themselves on your mind!! In short, good taste perhaps also due to the expert production of Andy Classen (Rotting Christ, Dew Scented, and others) and the mastering by Goran Finnberg (In Flames, Opeth, Dark Tranquillity, just to name a few). These two names might suffice to associate The Old Dead Tree with the melodic death genre; but truth be told, the album in question seems rather indebted, both thematically and musically, to seminal gothic/doom bands like Katatonia, or My Dying Bride rather than Paradise Lost, or the Italian band Novembre.

Now that I think about it, at more than one point, but especially in the last three tracks, the delicacy and elegy of some passages and of the voice remind me of those little gems that were the debuts of the very Italian Room With a View and Klimt 1918, respectively First Year Departure from 2002 and Undressed Momento from 2003. Who knows about these young Frenchmen...