3 out of 5

Label: Abréactions Productions, Araki, Table Basse Records, Coeur sur toi, CO2 Vinyles, Epicericords, GED, Quixotemusic

Produced by: Cédric Deniaud (recorded by)

Fully embracing their krautrock side, a trio-edition of Chafouin rocks out six longform instrumentals that excite… and then somewhat living up to the album’s name (translated as ‘All That Remains’), hang out more for persistence than anything else.

That sounds pretty negative, but I appreciate that the generally mellifluous Chafouin stick to their themes (arguably their less great albums are the ones where they aim too stylistically broadly), and the guitar / bass / drums core at work here promote the group’s occasionally rocking side to the forefront, meaning that every tune gives us something to nod along to. That’s definitely worthwhile as reliable background music at the very least; and then there’s actually a whole lot more than that up front: openers Facteur d’amortissement and Calibres à répétition multiple spend their runtime building out layers of grooves, allowing for chaotic releases (on top of the solid kraut backing) for each track’s conclusion – these are memorable, powerful tracks. Ode à la mort d’un fasciste acts as a kind of ambient breather, which is a smart move leading in to the sing-song bop of B-side’s La fin du disco, but that track’s kind of comparable simplicity ends up setting the precedent for the rest of the album, which is neither especially immersive or as melodically compelling as where we started.

And maybe that’s a purposeful theme for a band 10+ years in and as many albums deep, with the cover art also suggestive of beauty – a vase of colorful flowers – tainted with reality – they droop somewhat, are shot against a bland background, and are set next to an ashtray. All That Remains in a world of ever-cycling trends and bad-news-of-the-day may be the band that can commit to a catchy riff, playing it forevermore, skillfully and confidently. Yeah, it inevitably fades into the background, but you’re happy you can rely on it.