Via Doloris Guerre et Paix Review
Via Doloris
Guerre et Paix
Season Of Mist
2026
Whenever someone steps out from the shadow of a well-known band, the first question that pops up is simple: can they stand on their own? With “Guerre et Paix,” the debut from Via Doloris, Gildas Le Pape doesn’t just try, he makes a pretty convincing case right out of the gate.
Most Metal fans will recognize Le Pape from his time in Satyricon, one of Norway’s longest-running and most consistently evolving Black Metal institutions. Being part of that machine means you’re already operating in a world where experimentation and atmosphere carry just as much weight as pure aggression. That mindset seeps into Via Doloris, but “Guerre et Paix” isn’t just some offshoot or carbon copy. If anything, it feels more inward-looking and mood driven, less concerned with spectacle and more interested in atmosphere and tension.
Of course, Le Pape didn’t exactly go into this thing alone. Behind the kit is none other than Frost, whose reputation at this point hardly needs an introduction. Frost does what Frost does best - precision, power, and the ability to absolutely level a song when the moment calls for it. But what’s nice here is that he never bulldozes the material. The blasts hit hard when they need to, but there’s just as much restraint and control, giving the album room to stretch out and breathe.
Musically, “Guerre et Paix” sits comfortably in that lane of Black Metal where atmosphere carries just as much weight as speed or brutality. The guitars drift between icy tremolo lines and slower, almost reflective passages that occasionally brush up against Post-Metal territory. There’s a cinematic feeling to a lot of it. The songs are constantly circling around themes of conflict and duality. One moment things feel chaotic and violent, the next they pull back into something colder and more introspective.
Le Pape’s vocal approach fits that push-and-pull pretty well. Instead of just blasting everything with the same scorched-throat delivery, there’s a little more nuance here. Sure, there’s plenty of bite where it counts, but there are also moments that feel more measured and controlled, which helps reinforce the darker, more reflective tone of the album. The production walks that same line - clear enough that you can pick out the details, but still abrasive enough that it never loses that raw Black Metal edge.
What really stands out, though, is how fully formed this thing feels for a debut. A lot of first records from side projects feel like testing the waters. “Guerre et Paix” doesn’t really have that problem. It feels deliberate and confident, like Le Pape already had a clear idea of what he wanted this project to sound like before the first note was even recorded.
If you’ve followed the broader evolution of Satyricon over the years, you’ll probably pick up on a few familiar threads here and there. That’s inevitable, especially with Frost hammering things home behind the kit. But Via Doloris never feels like it’s living in anyone else’s shadow. “Guerre et Paix” comes across as Gildas Le Pape planting his own flag and doing it with enough confidence to make this project worth paying attention to going forward.
Standouts – “For The Glory”, “Communion” and “Omniprésents”