Alcest - amazing shoegaze - General

[IMG]http://www.alcest-music.com/myspace_header.png[/IMG] Copypasta from Wikipedia: [quote]Alcest is a musical project born in Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France (now relocated in Paris where Neige lives). Beginning as a raw black metal act in 1999, Alcest later became a vessel for Neige's "memories of another world" as the band evolved into his solo-project. While Alcest still retains some black metal roots, the music now draws more comparison to other genres such as shoegaze and post-rock. Neige has stated in interviews that he had not listened to these types of music prior to the recording of Souvenirs d'un autre monde. Alcest is currently under contract with Prophecy Productions for five albums. Though this does not necessarily mean that Neige is required to record these albums, should he decide to do so, they will be released via Prophecy.[/quote] [quote]Alcest was formed as a solo project by Neige in 1999.[1] Soon after, the band became a three-piece black metal outfit, consisting of Neige on vocals, rhythm/acoustic guitar, and drums, Argoth on bass, and Aegnor (now known as La Famine de Valfunde. Famine used Neige as a session and live musician in Peste Noire) on lead guitar.[1] In 2001, the band released a 4-track demo tape entitled Tristesse Hivernale on Drakkar Productions in which Famine wrote the main riff of the song "La Forêt de Cristal". Not long after the demo was released, the band once again became a one-man entity, with Neige taking Alcest in a more personal direction.[1] Neige, having originally formed Alcest as an outlet to create cold and raw black metal, moved away from the minimalist approach with the follow-up to Tristesse Hivernale, entitled Le Secret. This EP, released in May 2005, is an introduction of sorts to the new concept behind the reformed Alcest. Reviews for Le Secret proved to be largely positive, praising Neige for his use of a nostalgic and overly pleasant atmosphere, which is typically unusual in black metal.[2] The latest album, titled Souvenirs d'un autre monde, was released in Autumn of 2007 on Prophecy Productions, and drew comparisons with the likes of My Bloody Valentine and Jesu.[1][3][4] In August 2007, Tristesse Hivernale was released by Northern Silence Productions in August 2007 as a split with French black metal band Angmar.[/quote] Simply put, Alcest is a great black metal-turned-shoegaze band that I love and I think should be listened to by fans of shoegaze and post-rock (and maybe black metal). Discography: [B]Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde (2007)[/B] [IMG]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aS8Umb7bP5Q/R_0-QybrcjI/AAAAAAAAACE/N2rNtYOtn3Q/s320/Alcest%2B-%2BSouvenirs%2BD'un%2BAutre%2BMonde%2BFLM.jpg[/IMG] My favorite album by Alcest, and easily one of my favorite albums of all time. The album features a concept that was executed masterfully by Neige - to take the listener on a journey through his memories. As a child, Neige had fantasies of a sort of fantasy land, and the music in the album is an adaptation of this "world". Sounds lame, but it really works. The music is very otherworldly and beautiful, expressing feelings of strong nostalgia and joy. Every song on this album is amazing. [B]Le Secret (2005)[/B] [IMG]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_UzANGJamcNE/SP9GnTayECI/AAAAAAAAFPs/OVbgv53oL14/s320/Alcest+-+Le+Secret+-+Front.jpg[/IMG] This was Alcest's first EP and first attempt at adapting this other "world" into musical form. It only contains 2 tracks, both being over 12 minutes in length. The second track contains black metal vocals. Overall a pretty good album. Alcest's next album will be titled "Écailles de Lune" and will be released on March 29. The concept will be completely different to the previous two albums; Neige has said in an interview that lately he's had a fascination in seaside romanticism. Here's the album cover: [IMG]http://www.alcest-music.com/alcest_ecaillesdelune_cover.jpg[/IMG] Now for some tracks: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLN9TVeJ49s[/media] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_cqIFqyET4[/media] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaDm6n2oo1c[/media] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t1XqYgukd4[/media] (Last track is from their latest split release. Contains black metal vocals) New track: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YETNfnagSMg[/media]

I still can't get into this band as much as Amesoeurs. But I'm sure in no time I'll be able to. It took me while to get into Amesoeurs' softer songs.

[QUOTE=UberWarri0r;20169959]I still can't get into this band as much as Amesoeurs. But I'm sure in no time I'll be able to. It took me while to get into Amesoeurs' softer songs.[/QUOTE] I was sort of in the same boat. I loved Amesoeurs instantly, so I checked out Neige's other stuff. At first I thought this band was boring, but after forcing myself to listen through it a few times I sorta... "got" it.

Wow, sounds great.

this sounds pretty good. I love nice sounding atmospheric metal with some good screams.

Bump since the first track of the upcoming album has been leaked. It's amazing. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YETNfnagSMg[/media]