Published: January 5, 2018

New Year's Eve. A gathering with family and friends. New resolutions and hopes for tomorrow. The beautiful lights and playful party music. Reality kicks in in the form of a hangover. Maybe you're alone or you feel like your dreams will eventually succumb to your fears. Wait, no, no. You're fine. Everything is fine… Ah, fuck it.

How hard can it be to get some peace of mind? 

How bad do you want to leave this life behind?

The harrowing scream at the start of the opening song "Everything's Fine" sets the tone for the pitch-black, urban darkness we are dealing with here. This French project has had an interesting evolution from the get-go. Netra's debut was a harsh and bleak take on depressive black metal with the unique touch of trip-hop and electronica. As the sophomore album was unleashed upon us, so were Netra's flirtations with non-metal influences with a stronger hold on the trip-hop and even pop vibes while also elevating the songwriting with excellent guitar work. With Ingrats, Netra choses to go all in and presents all he has across the board.

The first two songs cover all of Netra's sound palette brilliantly. A jazzy keyboard intro followed by insane cries and desperate riffs. Eventually bluesy guitar leads take you by surprise as well as the sudden clean vocals that weirdly enough make the song even darker. Production-wise this is by far the best Netra has put out as it supports all these different sounds. From the trip-hop beats and electronic sounds to the harsh black metal riffs. Even a sax finds a streetlight to shine through and the mixing does it justice.

Ingrats is mostly an instrumental affair which actually makes it more relatable to me as it is easier to paint a mental image of a moody night out in the grey jungle. The dancing beats, the ecstasy of a great party with the sudden reality crushing down every now and then in the form of desperate riffage. Barely a third of the album holds any vocals but oh boy do they shine. The violent howls to the urban life are as top-notch as they were in Netra's debut Mélancolie Urbaine. It's in the clean department however where Netra's mastermind Steven Le Moan truly grew as a singer. "Live With It" is the song that brings the clean vocals with full force and is without a doubt one of the highlights of the project. Previously, the Ulver influences were obvious but now the vocals acquired a touching, bittersweet tone that sets it apart from Garm's voice. 

Netra's third opus is short, to the point and it covers as much ground as it needs to cover. This also makes it the most accessible work by the project and a great way to start for those who haven't discovered Netra's interpretation of the wild city life. Go grab your jacket, get out, have some drinks and spin this baby while stumbling on your long way home!

Here's to my memories! Here's to my enemies!

May you never leave me... May you keep haunting my dreams!