Rating: 4/10
Release: February 2013
Label: Sacral Records

If there’s one band which may stop immediatly with making music, it’s Belenos. With the previous CD fresh in mind ( a rerelease which didn’t score higher than a 2), I started the intensely exhausting, heavy and especially long listening session of this new album from the French quartet.
Some bands try to substantiate the essence of despair, the pure torture of body and soul in their music. Belenos takes this a step further; it causes you’re starting to despair. Because where is the world going to when music like this actually deserves a chance and is released by a proper label?
Ok, I believe the essence is clear, so let’s continue with talking about the music itself. Belenos releases with ‘L’ancien Temps’ a terribly boring, more than 2 hours long, standard black-metal album. Incredibly boring tremeloriffs or chords played in arpeggio. We all heard it 1000 times before, but much better. The fact that all songs sound the same, and that the production isn’t all that good either, doesn’t increase the joy of listening much. Even the acoustic bits are plain boring and predictable.
While it’s better than the disaster the band rereleased about a half year ago, this one isn’t that much better. I sincerely wonder if there are any people on this planet who can stand this music, while there’s so much more beautiful music out there.

Tracklist CD 1

1. Le déluge 7:01
2. Notre amour éternel 6:36
3. Priez encore 5:35
4. Rêveries 5:09
5. Etrange douceur 6:43
6. Visages de ma solitude 8:45
7. Adorable mépris 6:49
8. Le déluge – live 2010 4:49
9. Derniére recontre – version 2000 6:02
10. Funeste et hivernal – rehearsal 1999 5:09

Tracklist CD 2

1. Derniére recontre 8:05
2. Mélancolie 7:45
3. Pensées 4:56
4. Tristesse 5:08
5. Sacrilége 6:05
6. Lassitude – Outro 8:12
7. Oraison funébre 6:11
8. Le déchirement 5:57
9. Funeste et hivernal 6:40
10. Le domaine des songes acte I 4:35