MISERERE LUMINIS - Sidera

Although the name Miserere Luminis has been circulating for a very long time (the self-titled debut dates back to 2009, while the most recent "Ordalie" came out in 2023), continuity has never really been in the cards for these Canadians. Still, things can change, especially once you realize the potential of a project that started out as a simple, supposedly fleeting collaboration between a few figures from Québec's celebrated black metal scene. We're talking about Annatar of Sombres Forêts and Neptune and Icare of Gris, the latter already responsible for one of the genre's most beloved albums (the depressive "Il Était Une Forêt…").

"Sidera" not only follows in the footsteps of the previous "Ordalie", but expands on it, perfecting a formula that's clearly rooted in post-black metal. Speed becomes optional here, especially when you can unleash any kind of horror within a sonic cavern of devastating impact. In this regard, the ample eight minutes of "Les Fleurs De L'Exil" stand as the clearest proof: a slow crescendo with dramatic contours, a pained scream (in French) rising like a monument, and then once again an imposing wall of instrumentation cut through by constant atmospheric breaks.

The music of Miserere Luminis is a free fall down a tunnel with no way out, a feeling that erupts amid the solemn notes of the mammoth "De Cris & De Cendres", whose lyrics spit out rage in poetic verses ("I will weave invisible trees from fragments of sky, distorting the language of night and the meaning of your stars. From the rays of your pain I will rebuild suns that tremble").

The three Canadians seem intent on tearing the universe apart: they rend it and wound it, but they also know how to caress it with soul, opting for piano passages that blur among the stars and openings with a post-rock flavour (as in the following "Aux Bras Des Vagues & Des Vomissures", yet another gem in the record).

The five movements that make up the album need to be absorbed as a single monolith, because this is a journey through the stars in which the deepest emotions chase one another and time stretches out. Only to vanish into the glittering dark.

The measured, intricately structured nature of the various compositions thus distances itself from the majestic icy expanses that many (glorious) black metal bands from Québec had accustomed us to. Miserere Luminis, by contrast, are white-hot, like the lava of a burning planet. And this is their undisputed peak, desperate, total and absolute.

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google

10/03/2026