L’eau rouge

First, I'll say that, as a native French-speaker, the butchered French annoyed me (the singer is German-Swiss). But I don't want to gatekeep singing in French, especially when so many French artists desecrate English (I'm talking about you The Onirist). Just saying it made my ears cringe at times. The low-pitch singing can also be a bit much, and sometimes it doesn't really fit the music.

Aside from that, this album is amazing. Very imaginative, atmospheric, varied, fun and full of life. No instrument was deemed unfit for the music the band wanted to make. There's a lot of guitar, bass and drum, of course, but also violin, accordion, industrial-sounding percussions and all kinds of orchestral instruments (through sampling I presume). Some songs are a bit repetitive, but never for very long; they keep moving around, transporting you elsewhere.

A very surprising album, full of creativity, and the reviews here are pathetic. Seriously, if you think this sounds like Rammstein or Nine Inch Nails (whom I love btw) you have piss in your brain. Do... Do y'all even listen to the albums, or do you just click randomly on the track listing and listen for 10 seconds? Embarrassing.

Interesting. Hard like some of the German and American hard core stuff at the time but I would argue with better musicality and interest. 3+

The Good: Wine anyone?
The Bad: Seems the water is mixed with blood...
The Ugly: A French version of Rammstein... unless you are into that, of course...

It started off well... intriguing, I would say. Then, well, then it was a little less of intrigu and more of annoy...
And yet, then the intriguing started showing up again...

I am so conflicted on this one...

What can't be denied is that I am no fan of the singers voice...

Shooting this one down the middle... 3*

Napoleon Blownapart

L'Eau Rouge by The Young Gods is basically like getting tossed into a chaotic, neon-lit funhouse where European cabaret meets '80s industrial metal. It’s pretty wild, no traditional riffs here, just a wall of sampled guitars and heavy, clattering drums with the singer snarling over the top in French. It sounds like a deranged, horror-movie version of Tom Waits or Jacques Brel backing an early Nine Inch Nails demo. One minute it's a tense accordion waltz, and the next it's just full-on mechanical mayhem that leaves you feeling totally buzzed and weirded out.

It’s definitely not for everyone, it’s abrasive and kind of a lot to take in, but the way they pull it off is pretty cool. It's a high-stakes, intense ride that might catch you off guard, but if you can handle the industrial noise and the French vocals, there’s a really unique, dark atmosphere underneath.

And true purists know that Eau Rouge is technically part of Raidillon...

No aguanto la voz del pavo. Seguramente si supiera francés diría oh la la je suis enamoré pero como no pues se me ha hecho horroroso. Será que no me gusta el industrial.

Absolutely ruddy excellent - SO weird, memorable, odd, great to listen to while working... awesome! :) Godflesh is a similarish band too, both are discoveries this year I can't believe are news to me :) 5*

Non. French language industrial music is not for me.

I did like the accordion intro to ‘Charlotte’ and French Tom Waits vocals

Now, I don't think this is my kinda thing, and objectively think I should probably hate it, but despite all the noise, I sort of enjoyed limited parts of this. I think it was the unhinged circus vibes in places that I didn't mind.

I can't really explain it though, so I'm not going to try.

2/5

A tough listen. I appreciate the bravery to make something this noisy, but it's not for me.

The french language does not work for me on this kind of music. The first track that i did not find strange was the english one that spotify played after this album

Yeah, no this is the worst thing ever

It's always fun getting an album that everyone here hates. But, I have also noticed that the negative reviews all make this thing sound sick as hell, so I guess that's an extra good sign? I personally found this one both extremely interesting and enjoyable. In short, this is an industrial album, but there is quite a bit going on under the hood. This is, as far as I can dig up, almost *completely* sample based. This band has a singer, a drummer, and a sampler. No bass, no guitar, no singing stick, not even a calliope. While this technique could have made this thing feel kind of lifeless, it is executed with an *incredible* amount of skill, and the mode of construction very vitally bleeds through into the composition as well. There is a combination of lush, sampled classical strings and accordions and whatnot, giving this a sense of high drama. But the incorporation of more conventional industrial instrumentation feels particularly jagged, even noisy. The guitars blister, the drums thud, the vocals are sort of intense and grizzled. The result is particularly fascinating. Instead of sounding cheesy or epic, the results are intense, and self serious, and remarkably heavy when the band *really* opens up. I think La Fille De La Mort is one of the most interesting examples of what's really going on here. It is a *very* patient song, giving you like 4 minutes of vocals over very pretty string samples, sampled such that they seem to interrupt themselves, which sets up a little of the unease. Then things slowly boil over until the drums and noise elements devour the mix completely. From here, the energy is redlined, and the band is smart enough to ride this momentum, only downshifting with *utmost* intent. Immediately, Rue des Tempêtes explodes as an industrial rock song, and the title track menacingly pulses. But these manage to coexist with the *deeply* odd Charlotte. And this power and intensity is only amplified by the unusual sampling palate as the album progresses. I'm not going to call it a 5 yet, but I'm definitely going to keep this in my rotation.

Industrial pop &/or sit down & count the ways monotony & pressure may go hand in hand, L'Eau Rouge is like the weirdest arena act you'll e'er hear. This is music for the pretentious sports fan. I don't enjoy it, I don't actually respect it, but I guess I understand it - it's there to get you hyped & freaky all at the same time. It's just that Franz Treichler's vocals are a headache & a guttural forgery that remind me of a Tom Waits who forgot to take a dose of the good lord - at least something that'll redeem the edginess that in the end is no more than Kiss on a French acid trip (listen to the transition from 'Charlotte' to 'Longue route'). Performers that underperform, these so-called young gods are neither gods nor that young. Pub rock for weirdos.

(Swiss) French industrial? 👀

Turns out I wasn't really a fan (vocals too gruff for me), but at least it was interesting. I like the background music sometimes, when it's more drum-centric than guitar-centric, but at other times (like in 'Longue route') it just feels like Scandinavian heavy metal, albeit with some sort of old timey fair/cabaret theme. Though I do think it's nice for diversity's sake to have some ugly music en français!

Now I will listen to Indochine's 'Pink Water' to cleanse the palate.

Miscellany: it's a bonus track that I didn't even listen to, but the title 'l'amourir' reminded me of the Magnetic Fields' lyric "La mort c'est la mort, mais l'amour c'est l'amour". Making me think Whorfian thoughts!

French industrial that sounds very reminiscent of Fetus. Not quite as visceral as JD Therwel but brilliant nonetheless.

Trading between cabaret , tom waits and ministry.

From never hearing of them to adding thier entire discography to my Discogs want list in one record

eh, rock industrial nao eh pra mim nao
eh ruimzão memo, infelizmente. achei que teria algo bacana, mas não. eh só um mano falando em frances com instrumental medíocre.

Fr*nce

After listening to the first song I was adamant that this would be a 1, but it actually managed to turn itself around. Once you look past the singing there's some decent stuff on here.

That was tough. Other reviewers have compared the album to Pink Floyd, NIN, and Reznor—all bands and artists I really enjoy listening to. I was curious. The very first track put me off so much that I couldn’t bring myself to listen to it all the way through. The second one reminded me of old NIN songs, but it didn’t win me over. It’s really hot today—maybe that’s why I’m not in the mood for anything radically new. I might give the album another listen after all. But that’s enough for now. 2/5