Ελληνικά
Last Updated on 06:06 PM by Giorgos Tsekas
Genre: Heavy Metal
Country: France
Label: Lost Realm Records
Year: 2022
Formed in 1985 in Chécy, France, Drifter are best known in the world of vinyl collecting for their 7″ single ‘Le Vol De L’Aigle/Prisonnier Du Cauchemar’, originally released in 1988. It was June 1985 when Olivier Lahierle drums and Karim Bouda guitars both high school students decided to set up a group under the moniker Drifter. The music direction was more into Hard Rock even though Olivier was closer to punk rock at the time. Olivier’s brother Laurent also joined the band along with Michael Poirier as the singer. Several bassists will follow one another including Richard Revuelta before finally chose Alain Ramamonjy. The last one stayed only for 2 live concerts just like the aforementioned singer Michael Poirier and left the band in 1986. The band had difficulties to find a decent bassist and a singer, so they decided to place Laurent in these two roles! So a new guitarist entered the band Eddy Lemaire, and with a new line-up Drifter recorded in August 1986 their first demo entitled ‘Dans Les Griffe Du Passé’ featuring ‘Cyclope’, ‘Labyrinthe Monstrueux’, ‘Que Vois-Tu Dans Tes Rêves?‘, ‘L’ Exécuteur’ and ‘Sirènes’ recorded on a 4-track tape with Joel Boureux, the guitar teacher of Laurent and Eddy. The cover representing a man Cyclops was drawn by Eric Daudon, a friend of the band’s members. The lyrics were written by Pascal Gregoire (future bassist of cult group Capharnaüm) while the music was written by Laurent except were lyrics were by Eddy and lyrics by Laurent. Their first demo was sold in a small number of hundreds at concerts and in some record stores, making them popular in local radio stations and regional fanzines. The rest of the year was spent in appearances in festivals of the time in their region, using singer Michel Poirier’s in a short guest reunion. Drifter recorded their second demo in August 1987 with Olivia Araujo, who followed Michel Poirier’s and the help of Joel Boureux. Before the second demo once again new live shows in their region were booked and (only) one in Paris. So ‘La Mandragore’ which was the title of the demo featured 4 +1 songs: ‘Le Vol De L’ Aigle’, ‘Vikings’, ‘Cyclope (Live)’,‘Prisonnier Du Cauchemar’ and ‘Terre Sainte’. All songs written by Gregoire (lyrics) and Laurent (music) except ‘Terre Sainte’, which was written exclusively by Lemaire. The following year in 1988 they even decide to produce a 7inch single, featuring two of their best songs ‘Le Vol De L’ Aigle’ and ‘Prisonnier Du Cauchemar , but without Eddy Lemaire, who left the band right before the recordings. The 3 remaining members felt betrayed by his decision but the 45rpm single was a killer. The songs were more aggressive, more dynamic and as the duration of the tracks was shortened, it helped the compositions to sound rougher and sharper. The front cover is the one you see also in this compilation; the imposing black and white eagle flying over the earth (drawn by Eric Daudon). Unfortunately at the same time the sad news of the death of their former guitarist Karim Bouda made things even worst. Notice that Karim designed the band’s logo. The end of the band is near as 1989 is leaving… With a new bassist Laurent Grosnier they continue rehearsing in a garage moving again back to a more Hard Rock oriented motif. The result sounded too far from what Drifter had recorded until then that made them to decide to put an end to their course. Two years later in 1991 a Thrash band under the moniker Capharnaüm was born from the ashes of Drifter, featuring Laurent on guitars, Pascal on bass/lyricist and Olivier on drums…Drifter sounded too 80’s and way too cult for our time, yet catchy with melodic parts and damn fast and furious. The French language they used makes them very friendly to all traditional metal fans that feel comfortable with it (thanx to Sortilege, ADX or Blaspheme among others) and their raw nature puts our cult-meter on fire !!! Highlights: ‘Le Vol De L’ Aigle’, ‘Prisonnier Du Cauchemar’, ‘Dans Les Griffes Du Passé’, ‘Cyclope’ and ‘Vikings’. Finally available on CD, this deluxe edition will include 20-page booklet with extended biography (written both in English and French), song lyrics and rare band photos.
