The 1998 ice storm in Quebec lasted a week, and left much of the territory without electricity for over a month. This incredible storm is still fondly remembered by the inhabitants of the French-speaking part of Canada, and according to some studies, it left its mark on the DNA of children still in gestation, due to the stress experienced by their mothers. All this is admirably narrated in this album by Neige Et Noirceur, the solo project of Spiritus that was born in 2002 and has an extensive discography. Neige Et Noirceur‘s black metal is profoundly influenced by its environment of origin, and Spiritus’ particular skill is in being able to truly render the chill and heaviness of the Quebecois environment, thanks to distorted guitars and the skilful and gloomy use of drones and keyboards. Everything that can be heard on the disc contributes to creating a truly glacial and lifeless setting, except for that of evil spirits, which once again emphasise that on this earth man is indeed a guest, and not even a welcome one. In Verglapolis, this city made up of blocks of ice, one can hear the droning notes of Neige Et Noirceur, a requiem of life and hope, a fascinating sound indebted in its poetics to H.P. Lovecraft, because these unmentionable visions are his daughters. Verglapolis is a record of great beauty, to be enjoyed with headphones on, transcending genres to construct a narrative that is a modern myth, a work over an event far greater than us, and which we cannot fully understand, but we can feel it. (M.Argo – MetalEyes 25/6/17)

2017 – Les Productions Hérétiques / Dusktone