Originally, I was going to write this entry about not only this band, but another French metal project called Blut Aus Nord. Since the two are barely connectible, I decided to let the other one wait for another day - they're equally worthy of my praise, just not right now.
With the absolutely inane amount of post-rock bands clogging the music universe right now, it takes a lot for a band with that general sound to jump out and really make something not only incredibly beautiful, but also innovative. There's a lot of crap out there that follows one of the two standard post-rock formulas of "long crescendo" or "pretty then heavy," and even the genre's visual aesthetic seems to be getting a bit worn...lots of dudes with beards.
What Alcest has done is bring something new to the table in combining two genres that, at first glance, seem relatively incompatible, but upon further inspection, seem to work together in a way that is pretty close to perfect. Alcest is based in Avignon, France, and was originally formed as a rather straightforward black metal band. Vocalist Neige eventually tired of the rather narrow realm of possibilities traditional black metal offered, and Alcest became what it is now: a one-man black metal/shoegaze hybrid.
"Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde" sounds like a meeting between Slowdive and Burzum, essentially, and even that description doesn't quite do the sound perfect justice. The songwriting certainly errs more on the side of shoegaze or post rock, with dreamy vocals that sound more than a little reminiscent of Neil Halstead and airy instrumentation. There are several moments, however, when the band's black metal roots shine through - the occasional double-bass fills (which are never overstated), the treble-filled guitar tone, the foreboding and plodding intro to "Sur l'autre rive je t'attendrai," the borderline baroque sounding "Tir Nan Og." Black metal has always had the ability to be a beautiful genre musically, and there are many acts who have been able to take it into that realm - Burzum, Emperor and Shining spring to mind - but this record takes the gentler aspects of black metal and brings them together with a genre that seems almost tailor-fit for them, and makes a great, great fucking record.
This isn't really a black metal record, obviously, but I'd definitely put it in a branch incredibly close to it on the family tree. This is an absolutely beautiful record, and I'd recommend it to any metal fan looking for something a little more ambient...or someone who really, really misses Slowdive. Check it out for yourself at http://www.myspace.com/alcestmusic .
Overall....9/10
1 comment:
this album is sweet
-steve adler
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