Alcest - 3 Studio Albums (2007-2012)

Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde (2007). The relationship between heavy metal and the so-called "shoegazer" movement of the early '90s might not be apparent in writing, but with Justin Broaderick's amazing transmutation of his grinding industrial metal in Napalm Death and Godflesh into the dark, sonic bliss of his current incarnation as Jesu, it doesn't seem so far-fetched anymore. Immediately upon first listen the connection between one-man band Neige's French "black metal" roots and his current neo-psychedelic explorations under the Alcest moniker doesn't seem so far-fetched, natural even. Playing all the instruments on Alcest's debut full-length Souvenirs d'Un Autre Monde, Neige builds layers upon layers of ecstatically distorted guitars that evoke obvious comparisons to My Bloody Valentine's sonic extravaganzas and less obvious nods to the brooding minor-key post-metal of Jesu, only perhaps a bit sunnier. There are only six songs on Souvenirs, and the formula deviates only slightly, but the mission statement is evident from the opening crunch of the first track "Printemps Emeraude," as the foundation of majestic guitar swells and stately minimalist drums is laid and the journey begins, and the listener is seemingly transported over great distances and through lifetimes via hypnotic repetition and a series of dynamic shifts which are probably more important than the actual songs themselves. The feelings elicited are those of yearning, nostalgia, triumph and blissful peace, all without a single lyric in (discernible) English. And really, the best factor arising from the meeting of metal and shoegaze is that this is a guitar album - a monstrous, churning, epic guitar album - without a single guitar solo!

Ecailles De Lune (2010). If any proof were needed that anticipation was at a fever pitch for Alcest's second full-length album, it could be found in the fact that a clever leak of Écailles de Lune that made the rounds before its release was rabidly snapped up worldwide even though most of the tracks came from a compilation of Chinese black metal acts. But the fact that it was treated as the real thing shows how strong Alcest's own aesthetic mark has been made already, and Écailles de Lune makes the most of its compelling fusion of black metal's theatricality and the after-echoes of shoegaze's propensity for utterly enveloping a listener, even if bandleader Neige approached that sound unconsciously at first. The first half of the two-part title track that begins the album starts with a gentle guitar chime before the full skyscraping riff kicks in, but - instead of getting even more intense as it goes - it's happy to turn even more elegantly beautiful, letting moments of strutting rock brawl feel more like exaltation than destruction. Neige's singing is some of his loveliest at many points throughout the album, a soft keen toward the middle of the second half of the title track, a low and contemplative rumination elsewhere - if not notably different from his earlier work in approach, it's at its most enjoyable here, and perhaps at its most beautifully serene on "Solar Song," vocals overlaid to lovely effect. In contrast to how Justin Broadrick's work in Jesu feels like brutal songs gone blissed-out, here it feels like calmly performed songs given sometimes full-speed accelerants that never lose a central grace, even when Neige's vocals turn into a familiar hollow rasp and wail.

Les Voyages De L'ame (2012). Though French black metal has always been full of experimental weirdness that pushes at the genre's narrow boundaries, none has pushed the envelope as far as Alcest, a band that willfully combines black metal's buzz, gorgeous shoegaze melodies, ambient soundscapes, and post rock feedback. Les Voyages de l'Âme, Alcest's third full-length, arrives with great expectations based on the shock-of-the-new that greeted their debut, Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde, and its follow-up Ecailles de Lune. Alcest stands in its own "blackgaze" space at the crossroads of Burzum's Filosofem and My Bloody Valentine's Loveless. But one wonders how black that space can actually be with melodies that are so consciously attractive and lyrics that reject negativity. Founder, songwriter, and guitarist Neige was a one-man show until recently when Winterhalter was added on drums. Here Alcest's sound continues to evolve, stripping away more and more of metal's tropes; its production values have improved vasty as well. In its harmonic sophistication and layered sonic washes, its ability to create emotions that approach bliss in now part of its sonic architecture. Neige's vocals, decipherable at times, are all in French. They're meant to be another layer of that atmospheric palette; when they can be understood, they celebrate something spiritually positive though abstract. Multi-tracked electric and acoustic guitars and tension-tuned basses meet washes of synth and Winterhalter's tom-tom-heavy drum attack (no blastbeats) in songs that embrace the experience of an undefinable beauty in the shared terrain of spiritual, human, and natural worlds. The sense of "heaviness" in the mix is pronounced, but it employs aggression in a celebratory manner as evidenced by opener "Autre Temps" and closer "Summer Glory." Even at its harshest, when Neige is screaming, as on “Là où Naissent les Couleurs Nouvelles” and “Faiseurs de Mondes," the melodic beauty of the guitars seems to open up that expression, ensuring balance. This is music created to invite listeners to enter into the band's soundworld aesthetic, not be dictated to by it. Les Voyages de l'Âme is a conscious synthesis of the music from their two previous albums, rather than a move forward. And that's fine: assessment and integration and perfecting previous ideas are important aspects of any serious attempt at making art and creating a forward motion trajectory. Whether Les Voyages de l'Âmeis the band's finest album is a debate listeners will no doubt have, but is a great record;it simultaneously self-defining and alluring.