DMP Vault – Part XI, "Derrière-nous, la lumière"

Multifaceted talents like Dehn Sora are rare. As photographer, illustrator, designer or video-producer for artists including BLUT AUS NORD, ULVER, DEATHSPELL OMEGA and ULCERATE, Sora has left extensive marks wherever he goes. In the eleventh part of our DMP Vault, however, we focus on his music, namely THROANE's crushing 2016 debut "Derrière-nous, la lumière" ("Behind Us, The Light"). The violent flipside to Sora's Dark Ambient work as TREHA SEKTORI, THROANE fuses influences spanning Black Metal, Industrial, post-Metal and Hardcore to create an utterly convincing whole.


"Derrière-nous, la lumière" is a constant state of unease. Over a succinct 31 minutes the album continues to evoke a profound emotional response, regardless of your level of familiarity with the music. While all seven tracks hold unique qualities, this deeply layered, sombre and violent record works best consumed in its entirety. The album sets off on a tortuous path, using abrupt transitions and Industrial heft to further amplify the hair-raising ambience. Sora's harrowing vocals convey meaninglessness and depravity, while repeated patterns create a bleak and hypnotic state. The contrast of intense, passionate sections with moments of ominous stillness results in a feeling of on-guard wariness. Monstrously claustrophobic, the album is the antithesis of an easy listen.

"Derrière-nous, la lumière" enacts the reality of inner conflicts, making the consumption of the entire album in one sitting an overwhelming but essential demand. Comprehension becomes an all-encompassing obsession, and you are given no answers.

Sora is one of those rare artists who seamlessly fuses visuals, musicality, songwriting and lyricism into a convincing package, with each element amplifying the others. This bleak and punishing debut is testament to Sora's capabilities, and his command of atmosphere is further reflected in the album's evocative cover photography. Whatever your preferred medium, you do yourself a disservice by not absorbing this album via the physical release.

THROANE's ascendancy was advanced in 2017 with the release of second album "Plus une main à mordre" ("No Hand Left to Bite"), an eerily frightening 46-minute expedition through inner turmoil. The project's most recent emission, 2020 EP "Une balle dans le pied" ("A Bullet in the Foot"), continued a mind-bending run of progressive and invigoratingly intense heavy music - reinforced by the dark mastery of Sora's notorious audio-visual live performances. Fortunately, this is something we will have the opportunity to witness again this October at DMP's inaugural Servants of Chaos festival in Oberhausen, Germany (see here).

Listen to the album here:



We contacted Dehn Sora to reminisce about the creation of "Derrière-nous, la lumière":

Q: Hello Dehn Sora! If you think back to the time when "Derrière-nous, la lumière" was conceptualized, composed and recorded, what is the strongest memory you have of these seven songs?

I would say that when I was writing and recording the album, I was in a very down place, to be honest. As cliché as it may sound, having my mind focused on that record was a form of relief. I had the sensation of all these ideas flowing through, being able to shape them. I had a feeling of moving forward, with a sense of fight that I never felt before. I was feeling hands trying to bring me below the earth, but I was still pushing with my hands on the edge of the ground.

Q: To stay with this topic: "Derrière-nous, la lumière" was also THROANE's first ever release. Did you compose these songs with a firm knowledge that they would all be for an album from this new entity? Or did that become clear during the compositional process?

It was mainly a spontaneous process. I remember the first riff that I wrote for the record. Felt it, and then without realizing anything, recorded a whole song. I think I had not touched the guitar that way for a few months. I continued until everything came naturally in a short amount of time. It was basically when I was writing lyrics that I felt it should be a new entity. I spontaneously wrote in French, which is absolutely not the case in my other entity TREHA SEKTORI, for which I write in an instinctive language. Nothing was planned. So, it was this kind of moment, where something emerges, and you must let it go or let it take form. The shape and ideas were probably firm in my mind for years, and it was the right moment to really express them.

Q: For the album production you worked with Samuel Vaney and Gregoire Quartier (who later on would also play drums on THROANE'S second album). What can you tell us about this collaboration? How long were you already acquainted with these musicians?

I had worked together with Sam for few years prior. First, as a designer, since he contacted me to work together on one of his CORTEZ albums. We stayed in touch and worked together musically on an EP collaboration between TREHA SEKTORI and MUHD - his ambient moniker - discovering his brilliant skills in mixing. When "Derrière-nous…" was done, I actually recorded it with a drum machine. Since I had no plans in the beginning, I just wanted the tracks to be mastered, so Sam made it happen. But after few discussions, there was a kind of frustration concerning the drums' sound. I was curious to hear it with a real drum feeling. So, Sam and Grégoire, who also played in CORTEZ, were kind enough to take care of playing the drums as I wrote them, turning them into a more organic shape, and then re-mixing the whole album. They also worked on "Plus une main à mordre", pushing the tracks to another level, in my opinion. They really helped shape the sound of THROANE, for sure. I still can't thank them enough to this day.

Q: I remember an older interview in which you used four words to explain why THROANE was founded, namely: "The urge. The recovery." Do you still relate to this description and if so, could you elaborate on it for us?

I still relate. THROANE is a project meant for times where anger is too difficult to contain. It is a way of keeping the head above the surface, a way to deal with reality, in a spirit that is close to one of the first album tracks' name. Fighting with your bare fists, broken knees, in the face of dozens of sharpened blades. This is why I can't really practice or write with THROANE in mind. It has to come by itself.

Q: THROANE cover artworks are very personal and close portraits of people. I must admit, I thought the subjects were all family members, but then I read on Bardo Methodology that your live guitarist is the son of the man we can see on the first album cover. In what relation does this man stand to you and why was he important for the first album?

The man on the cover is my father-in-law. I had a firm idea of what I wanted for the cover. I did a first try with which I wasn't really satisfied. It was too calm. With my girlfriend, we talked about it, and agreed that her father would be the best man for it. He's a calm temper, but this kind of calm can blow away in a second, you can feel it. He's very shy in a way, despite his strong look. He embraced the idea quite instantaneously. So, he incarnates the right symbolism I wanted to express through that image. Scared bodies still on their ground ready to fight again. The injured that stay silent. When the album got released, Olivier, his son, told me "if you ever play live with the project, I'm in to hold the guitar". I love the fact there is that connection. As I am an inside person, let's say, my mind is always somewhere else. Having this reality makes sense. I always end up having people that are really close to me featured on the project's artworks. My mother and my sister, so far.

Q: Can you give us some insight into what is currently happening with THROANE? Is new music in the works?

I trashed a lot of tracks to be honest. I wasn't sure or happy with the results. I am involved in a lot of projects, and I'm learning to take more time for my own. This means that right now I lack time to work on new material. It'll hit my door when I least expect it, I'm sure.