Paris doomsters Hangman’s Chair have existed in the light of streetlamps; however, these lamps have not served to illuminate the blackness of night, only highlight it. On the new album, this is written everywhere, from the title (‘Sad Suburb’), to the suffocating bleakness of the band’s melodic, doomy metal. However, there is also a powerful catharsis in ‘Banlieue Triste’ that comes from its creators’ honest and emotional openness, not to mention the exceptional musical articulacy on display.