Deceates, a band from Nice, formed in 2019, with Stephanie on vocals, Cyril on lead guitar and backing vocals, Christophe on guitar, Christian on bass and Franck on drums, has self-produced its 1st album: Ex Nihilo Lux. Christophe did the mixing and mastering. 

Ex Nihilo Lux, which can be translated from Latin by : "From Nothingness, Light", opens with Et Lux in Tenebris Lucet, "Light shines in the darkness". This beginning of expression is present in the gospel of John (5th verse of chapter 1), and places the light as the source of all creation. In this title, no music. Only voices! A sacred polyphony, interrupted by the crackling of an old broken record. Then words come to be superimposed, enunciated like speeches by men who one imagines to be preachers. Anger springs up. 3 gunshots will conclude this opus. Would the darkness symbolized by the violence have annihilated the light, reducing it to nothing? 

Armageddon, which designates in the bible the place of the ultimate fight between the Good and the Evil at the end of the world, is an exhortation to choose its camp and to rebel against the Old World, insufflated by a powerful orchestration and the impressive growl of Stéphanie. A very beautiful guitar solo is inserted at 3'39. An explosive finale completes this biting and heavy track in threats: "We came in hell, To face the death".

Gone Away is sculpted with the scythe of this executor: "I am The Executioner", which slashes the chords, struck like cleavers, and on which the blast-beats machine-gun, implacable, like this inflexible executioner. 

After this apocalypse comes Ezekiel 1:26 (Old Testament - The Prophets). In the 1st chapter of the book of Ezekiel, it is about the vision of the chariot of God. 52'' which are like a transition in the album. A bell rings the knell 4 times as a conclusion while a siren sounds. Is it really the promised arrival of God or the desolation of nothingness?

The sharpened guitars are ignited on Time with remarkable climbs in power. Stephanie's growl and Cyril's vocals on the chorus add to the tragic beauty of the track. At 2'42, the guitar solos come to illuminate this crepuscular opus, insufflating the essential ardor not to give up and sink definitively: " To not fall into the depth, Face the darkness, Face the death ". 

Rage expresses, with force, the energy able to inhabit us when the fury becomes unbearable. The instrumentation injects us with a high dose of black metal sound, tearing us away from our reality to communicate its fever. At 2'53, a very melodic guitar flight brings an epic touch to this track.  

A new transition Ecce Venit Cum Nubibus (Apocalypsis 1:7 of John: "He comes with the clouds") proposes a range of sounds that ends with two tinkling bells. Will the revelation take place?

For my taste, Through the Hate is the best track on the album because of its more complex and cleverly combined construction. With its breaks, its frenetic covers, it is crossed by excellent lines of the guitars and the rhythmic, and an effective and well harmonized vocal trio (Stephanie's growl always so incredible of power and 2 choruses). A vibrant call to take one's destiny in hand. 

A soft start for Realize, followed by a percussive composition for this definitely violent and dark final. However, "Now I realize, There is no longer hope in here. When I read through the lies, I see that everything is clear. "As the truth emerges beyond the lies, can the light be reborn?

The album is presented inside a quality digipack, with a beautiful cover illustration, in perfect adequacy with the theme of Ex Nihilo Lux. Everything has been carefully thought and benefits from a very professional artistic implementation. 

A melodic death/black metal album, with a post-apocalyptic universe, sculpted in the darkness, on a mystical background. Ex Nihilo Lux or will we have to go back to nothingness to come back to the light? Concerning them, they have created, not from nothing, but with what they are and have offered in sharing, to succeed in this album that deserves to be highlighted.