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Not content with boiling metalheads’ piss alongside avant-garde bands Igorrr and Öxxö Xööx, Laure Le Prunenec’s had a go of it on her own. Her solo moniker, is much less polarising while occasionally covering similar ground; songs like Doris play off that jarring juxtaposition of her baroque, floating notes against metallic cascades, plucked violins kneeling before antagonistically dense backing vocals from Cattle Decap’s Travis Ryan. However, most of Nereïd comprises more subdued, electronic-tinged numbers, and the most exhilarating moments are the quietest. Bookends Zéro and Erani excel through their lack of instrumentation. Just layer upon layer of Laure – steeped in drama, soberingly intense. And unlike Igorrr, it makes sense without any animal noises.

Alec is a longtime contributor with first-class BA Honours in English with Creative Writing, and has worked for Metal Hammer since 2014. Over the years, he's written for Noisey, Stereoboard, uDiscoverMusic, and the good ship Hammer, interviewing major bands like Slipknot, Rammstein, and Tenacious D (plus some black metal bands your cool uncle might know). He's read Ulysses thrice, and it got worse each time.

Igorrr singer Ricinn swaps chaos for beauty on new album Nereïd

Post-metal icon Ricinn makes her way out of the Igorrr menagerie on second solo album Nereïd