With their new EP “La Morsure“, French screamo band CONTRE–FEUX has etched a narrative seeped in the throes of political fervor and raw emotion. Their newest offering is a historical account, a reactive manifesto sparked between the years 2018 and 2022—a tumultuous era marked by sweeping social movements and governmental repression in France.
“This record was written between 2018 and 2022, a period which saw successive political and social defeats in France, alongside an increase in police brutality and repression. In fact, since the election of Emmanuel Macron in 2017, between the yellow vest revolt, the pension protests, and the mobilizations for ecology, all social movements were violently repressed, to the point of making everyone lose the desire to fight for anything,” explains the band.
The quintessence of “La Morsure” lies in its visceral reflection of collective sentiment. “What we wanted was to express all the emotions of this period. There is anger, astonishment, disgust, and also joy and hope in a kind of progression. The idea is not at all to do political or sociological analyses, it’s really to externalize what we felt, both positive and negative, in something a bit cathartic. And above all in a poetic way.”
Grab a copy via Voice Of The Unheard Records, French DIY vinyl label specialized in post-rock / post-hardcore / screamo since 2013.
Opening with a poignant Charles Bukowski quote, “You sophisticates who lay back and make statements of explanation, I have seen the red rose burning and this means more,” “L’ordre” (The Order) serves as a dual homage and critique. It questions whether the act of playing hardcore punk is a true sacrifice or merely a sophisticated façade.
During the yellow vests protests, this song was penned as a stark commentary on the upper class’s violent efforts to maintain control: “How the government, to preserve the status quo, never hesitates to disfigure, injure, or kill people, so as to tell them ‘Stay at home and don’t exist, or you will suffer the same punishment during protests.’”
“Gibier le soir” (Game at Night) reflects a nation in shock, paralyzed like “wild animals caught in the headlights of a car,” unable to react amidst continuous defeats from labor law reforms to pension cuts.
“La morsure” (The Bite) symbolizes a vehement response to systemic aggression, “The bite is the last resort of the cornered animal; a violent response to an attack that threatens your life, the last chance to get out of it or at least to say ‘I didn’t let it happen.’”
“Papier carbone” (Carbon Paper) envisions a fiery revolt, “Now there are flames everywhere; a destructive revolution in the guise of a ferocious megabeast generated by social violence and authoritarian liberalism.”
“We have fully integrated all the disgustingness of capitalism and we violently spit it back in the face of those in charge, and it’s not a pretty sight: “A thousand heads to claim- A thousand masters to dismiss – An empire to fall”.
“Nos sourires et des flammes” (Our Smiles and Some Flames) concludes the EP on a note of defiant hope, proclaiming even in loss, there is a transformative beauty, inspired by Virginie Despentes’s words: “…It is not yet written that this is a bad thing.”
“Thanks Laurie “Lou” Ferrere for helping us put our ideas into place.” – concludes the band.
“La Morsure” is an expression of resistance, a sonic reflection of society’s darkest and most hopeful moments. CONTRE-FEUX not only narrates the story of a generation’s struggles but also incites a dialogue on the essence of resistance and the cathartic power of emotional hardcore.
