Le dernier des travaux d'Hercules - Sortilège night and the attack on the Nest of Evil

It was the first week of Kale-monath when Bloodmace was called for battles in the south, leaving Vecton and I to tend to the priestly duties at Jenkabala Temple. It was Moonday and the restless barbarian rode before the sabbath. I knew something was amiss when I arived at the dim and dangerous bar where Vecton weaves his tales of the hundred gods to drunken revelers. The bard whirled around in his barstool, a maniacal grin on his face, "Sortilège," He shouted, "We must pay tribute to the old masters, the dragon kings, the Gaelic gods!" Several large soldiers had now begun watching us, but Vecton was undeterred. Hands waiving wildly in the air, the weird mystic works his magic and with a clap of his hands, a bright bolt of lightning transports us inside Jenkabala Temple. 

The first album of the night was the Sortilège EP, a five song affair from 1983. Even at this stage in their career, this band was pretty legit. As with most young bands from the early eighties, the influences are worn on the sleeve. Maiden, Priest, Sabbath, you know the score, but the sum here is far greater than its individual components. Great introduction to this band and an energetic kickoff to the action that follows. 

Into the Necro Lands Part  7.1 - chasse le dragon

Ophelia, Fester and Losi followed us, riding on the spiders that had been our mode of transport in the root caverns below. Tesa's fiery sword cut through dead flesh, scattering the anatomy of any opponent foolish enough to challenge her, while laser bolts from the attack spiders peppered the battlefield. The sheer number of attackers was overwhelming though. They swarmed around us like flies until we

were smothered in their stinking bodies. Just as Tesa's sword could cut no more she gave the signal, "Schmoon! Schmoon!" Bloodmace reached down to the Stryper patch and the Garm began to do its work. His body convulses violently as the undead begin do drop where they are. The necromancers spell is broken. Corpses lie everywhere in various states of dismemberment, but the eleven living sentry still rush towards us, their faces contorted with rage as they approach. "Stop where you are, vermin!" Yells the black armored leader, pointing a laser pistol at my brother and I. Unfortunately for him, he sees not Maddaughter Tesa's blade as it glides silently through the chill air. He cries out and the others open fire, but their pistols are hampered by the spell of the Stryper patch. The battle spiders return fire and beat back our opponents, but Bloodmace cannot keep the spell going forever and I can see that he is about to come out of his Garm trance and the enemy will have a chance to use their magic again. I call out to the others, "Get ready, he's about to wake up!"

 

The next album, Métamorphose comes out of the gate a more polished, heavier beast. Cristian Augistin tears the hell out of the opening ripper, D'ailleurs and its mid tempo follow up, Majesté. Hymn à la Mort slows things down and offers a longer, multi part structure for the band to stretch out. Three more riff tunes, another longer more progressive sounding piece and one hell of a guitar break in Cyclope de L'étang round out this great album, leaving the last word for the melodic title track. Clocking in at a listenable thirty four minutes, this album could easily taken the night, but the boys from Île-de-France had one more album in them before going their separate ways, a hidden bloom on the spiky vine of heavy metal...

Into the Necro Lands Part 7.2 - Cyclope de L'étang

The spell ends with bloodmace diving for cover, just as Necro Baby's minions move in on him. One by one the dead begin to reanimate and fierce explosions from their master's weapons surround us. Tesa, fearless as usual, rushes towards the guns with a harrowing battle cry. Blood flies everywhere and the two cloaked Necromancers lie on the ground in pieces. Whirling to see our friends Fester and Ophelia beset by twenty or so rotting corpses, I swiftly grab hold of my Anthrax patch and

concentrate on the rhythm of the Garm and when I feel myself sync with the mechanical enchantment amplifier, I send the spell. The lifeless foes begin to mosh uncontrollably until their bodies fall into a quivering pile, but the odds are grim, for no matter how many we kill, there are more that rush in to take their place until, finally, we are defending ourselves from an enemy that has us surrounded on all sides. Gore covers the snow, melting it down to the bare ground in some spots and the air is filled with inhuman moans and cries. I am about to make a final death charge into the waiting crowd when I feel myself lifted off the ground. Stealing a glance upward at my captor I am overjoyed to see that I have been rescued by a tremendous crow. Mistress Crowbastard has returned. She carries me over the crowd and I can see the Nest of Evil not far away. We circle down and the shape shifting guardian drops me on the other side of the battle. Tumbling down, I already regret that Bloodmace and his Stryper patch are not with me. I rack my brain for a solution. I could destroy some of them with any of these spells but the damage an evil spell can do to a necromancer's creations is limited. It's then that I remember the special patch given to me my Rangar in Dantor. Reaching behind me, I grab the Mournful Congregation patch, latch on to the Garm's oscillations and let loose the magic. A wave of silence hits the combatants as despair grips their souls. The undead warriors fall again to the ground and the remaining necromancers hang their heads, wandering aimlessly in the gloom. Aided my Mistress Crowbastard, I quickly rush my brothers and sisters inside the comparative safety of the Nest of Evil, where we can protect them from hurting themselves.

 

 

Larmes de Héros, this was the one that pushed to the front of the pack, even though it was the last album and ear fatiuge had set in. I would liken this album to their "Keeper of the Seven Keys" or "Master of Disguise," a great classic metal masterpiece with plenty of dynamics and interesting songwriting spread over the epic masterstroke. Flawless victory.

Words of the Elders

Go now children, run to the red moon! Run to the crying mountaintops and look over the land. There is a great black fog over the Centonian plains that brings death to the once peaceful kingdoms adjacent to the necro lands. Palms in the moonlight, palms in the sea. palms are the eyes of the world when the good have been blinded. Fen, the great black duck, we call out to you! Heed us, thy supplicants! 

Until next week,winter wizards, 

Horns