When I reviewed B R I Q U E V I L L E’s third record, Quelle, I got tetchy about all the spaces between the letters, and various other pretensions. However, the Belgian project’s mesmerizing brand of instrumental post-metal won me over. Its bleak, misery-drenched tones conveyed everything that slightly uncomfortable-to-look-at album artwork suggested it might, ranging from a sludgy Bossk to Godspeed You! Black Emperor in tone. At almost an hour in length, and with a few strange choices in its composition, Quelle did struggle a little under its own weight but it still held my attention. Although the spaces now seem to come and go, it would appear BRIQUEVILLE have found a new way to irk me with their fourth record, IIII. I mean come on: IIII?! Yes, I get the fingers thing with the stark cover but IV, surely … ugh, it’s hard being me, I assure you. Can BRIQUEVILLE win me back?
IIII is a very different record from Quelle, although like its predecessor song titles are eschewed in favor of track numbers, which run continuously through that band’s discog. The record as a whole has an even more hypnotic feel than Quelle, with BRIQUEVILLE kicking things off in drone-adjacent territory on “AKTE XVI,” which relies on distended synths and sparse percussion in its opening passages, before the band begin to layer up the distorted, feedback-laden instrumentation, creating a yawing sonic canvas. Any fears that this will be the blueprint for the record can be put to one side, however. While IIII does rely heavily on repetition to conjure its aural landscapes, each track is very much its own beast, but all flow beautifully. Album highlight “AKTE XVIII” builds up an urgent, sawing riff alongside static-laced electronica and almost music-box-like melody and as it goes on, the elements build and build, evolving into a complex, spellbinding wall of sound. while. shortest cut “AKTE XIX” is a more delicate, dreamy affair.
IIII by B R I Q U E V I L L E
Unlike previous outings from BRIQUEVILLE, IIII is not wholly instrumental, with the creaking “AKTE XVII,” in particular, making use of vocals, although these mostly-wordless invocations have an almost spiritual or ritualistic note to them in places, very much forming part of the band’s toolkit, rather than standing apart as vocals in the usual sense (some short semi-spoken word passages apart). Similarly, swirling clouds of voices on “AKTE XIX” give IIII a haunted note, especially set against the squealing feedback of guitars and eerie synthscapes. The album’s longest cut, closer “AKTE XX,” moves through numerous shades, from light, almost post-rock at its inception, through reflective Tool-like introspection in its mid-passages before hitting a big, hefty post-doom stride by its conclusion. The usual comparisons to ISIS abound but BRIQUEVILLE strikes an interesting mid-way point between the melodicism and experimentation of parts of ISIS’ Wavering Radiant and the slightly disconcerting edge of Celestial. The Pelican and Psychonaut vibes are strong too but BRIQUEVILLE, particularly in its exquisite use of synths and field recordings, has found a voice all its own, blending Bong’s warped sounds into the mix.
What BRIQUEVILLE does isn’t about individual elements or performances, this is very much a case of the sum being significantly more than its parts. Nevertheless, whoever is behind the drum kit is critical to the success of IIII. This is not a record that calls for blast and bombast. What it needs and gets is a rhythmic backbone that, depending on the mood, slips effortlessly between a pounding heartbeat driving the whole forward and much more delicate and progressive touches, that fill the empty spaces around the big post-metal riffs and ever-shifting sea of electronica. While I have to add a slight note of caution to what I’m about to say, because I am working from a stream-only version of the album supplied by Pelagic Records, IIII also sounds gorgeous. Every aspect of the instrumentation has room to breathe and grow as it needs to, even as BRIQUEVILLE layers more and more elements into tracks like the back third of “AKTE XVIII,” everything remains distinct.
Shaving a full 20 minutes off Quelle’s runtime has done wonders for BRIQUEVILLE. At a tight 38-minutes, IIII feels vibrant and flows like quicksilver. As soon as I reach the end, I hit play again, ready to dive back into the eddying soundscapes, equal part dream and nightmare. With two truly stellar tracks in “AKTE XVIII” and “AKTE XX,” and no real weaknesses (perhaps “AKTE XIX” could offer a little more), IIII is comfortably BRIQUEVILLE’s best record to date and marks them out as one of the most interesting instrumental post-metal outfits working today.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: N/A | Format Reviewed: Stream only
Label: Pelagic Records
Websites: briqueville.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/briqueville
Releases Worldwide: November 3rd, 2023
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