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Year of No Light is a French collective formed in Bordeaux, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, in 2001. Emerging from the shadows of sludge and doom, they have evolved into a monumental force of instrumental post-metal, blending drone, ambient, and post-rock into vast, cinematic soundscapes.

Initially marked by melancholy and vocals, their early works (Nord, Live at Roadburn) carried echoes of despair and ritual collapse. Over time, the voice dissolved, leaving only the architecture of sound — towering, slow-burning, and elemental. Their compositions are not songs but cathedrals of distortion, meditations on light, absence, and transformation.

Named after a song by Three Mile Pilot, Year of No Light consecrates each release as a sonic rite — from Tocsin to Consolamentum, their music invokes silence, fire, and the weight of time.

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🕯️ Themes & Style

• Genres: Sludge, Drone, Doom Metal, Post-Rock, Ambient

• Themes: Early melancholy; later instrumental transcendence

• Label: Pelagic Records

• Status: Active (2001–present)

 

• 🔧 Members (Current Lineup)

  • Jérôme Alban – Guitar

  • Pierre Anselme – Guitar

  • Shiran Kaïdine – Guitar

  • Bertrand Sébenne – Drums

  • Mathieu Mégemont – Drums, Synths

  • Julien Perez – Bass, Synths

   

• Demo Demo 2004
  Nord Full-length 2006
  Live at Roadburn 2008 Live album 2009
  Dark 80's Split 2009
  Karysun / Year of No Light Split 2009
  Year of No Light / Machu Picchu Mother Future Collaboration 2009
  East of the Wall / Year of No Light / Rosetta Split 2009
  Ausserwelt Full-length 2010 5 (89%)
  Year of No Light / Altar of Plagues Split 2012
  Year of No Light & Thisquietarmy Split 2012
  Year of No Light / Mars Red Sky Split 2012
  Vampyr Full-length 2013
  Tocsin Full-length 2013
  Year of No Light / Bagarre Générale Split 2015
  Covers Split 2018
  Réalgar Single 2019
  Alètheia Single 2021
  Consolamentum Full-length 2021
  Mnemophobia Boxed set 2021
  Les maîtres fous Full-length 2025