Ensoph - Rex Mundi X-Ile (2009)

I've followed these guys since their 1998 debut, Les Confessions du Mat. This is certainly much different than the gloomy gothic metal of that EP, but it follows the tradition they started with 2001's Bleeding Womb of Annanke. They pull influences from gothic metal, techno/industrial, and black metal, and fuse them into a reasonably coherent style. Imagine a mix of Solefald with Assemblage 23 and you have a reasonable starting point. Somehow, it works to some degree for them; I guess it's because they're not trying to staple together dissonant styles -- their riffs seem to blend much better with the techno bits than Infravision's. They utilize a lot of different vocal styles -- male and female, distorted, shouted, screamed, spoken, and soprano, among others, and a variety of instrumentation types as well. Most of the music is a mix between guitar-driven and keyboard-driven. The production is surprisingly heavy too; it really helps their sound. Although this isn't really my style, I can appreciate this album for its uniqueness. I can't think of anyone who sounds a lot like this. Their cover of Alice in Chain's "Would" was an interesting touch, too.

Their MySpace page has some samples from the album.