Sektor #3

The third chapter of Éric Stalner's post-apocalyptic series finds a long-haired figure in a weathered coat crouching at the edge of shattered concrete and twisted rebar, rifle in hand, gazing out over a ruined cityscape where recognizable domed architecture still rises amid the overgrown wreckage — with a distant helicopter hanging in an otherwise open sky. Stalner's cover composition — framed like a jagged window onto a half-reclaimed world — captures the tension of someone on the threshold between concealment and exposure, which fits the chapter's title, "Contact," perfectly. With both writing and art duties handled entirely by Stalner and colors by Bruno Pradelle, this 2013 European album is a visually assured entry in a series that clearly relishes its atmospheric, survival-thriller sensibility.