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Alcest, "Les Voyages de l'Âme" (and Concert)
Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde introduced Alcest to the world five years ago with Stéphane "Neige" Paut's ideas fully formed from the start. Écailles de Lune took a conceptually dark detour, with Neige playing around with bold song structures (the album opens with a two-song suite lasting 20 minutes, both parts also titled "Écailles de Lune") and branching into new sounds (see all-acoustic closer "Sur l'Ocean Couleur de Fer"). Third album Les Voyages de l'Âme—translating to The Journeys of the Soul—boasts cleaner production, more immediate hooks, shorter songs, and spiritually evocative titles ("Beings of Light," "Summer's Glory"). In short, this is Alcest's most approachable, immediately striking album.
At just under six minutes, boasting a killer chorus melody, lead single "Autre Temps" is the most accessible song Alcest has yet released. In a parallel/ideal universe, my gut tells me it would be a monster on modern rock radio. Cleanly picked and strummed guitar builds at the song's start, leading into prominently sung verses (in all French, like the rest of the album) and a sky-high wordless chorus, with Neige harmonizing with himself and crying out to the heavens. The song's secret weapon is the bridge, which hints at Alcest's roots in black metal, its increased tempo adding a sense of urgency before the final chorus pierces through layers of guitars like a blinding ray of sunlight through the clouds. It's an enthralling song, sounding like Jesu playing in blissed-out double time. There's nothing quite as punchy as "Autre Temps" in the remaining 45 minutes of Les Voyages de l'Âme, but for what is essentially a gauzy, atmospheric rock album with hints of extreme metal, it's smart to lead with a tune that makes a strong bid for new listeners.
As the album unfolds, Les Voyages de l'Âme solidifies itself as the next great chapter in Alcest's catalogue—no better or worse than their first two albums, really, but a sharpening of their approach. As usual, the majority of the album leans as much toward shoegaze as it does black metal, far removed from the shrieked vocals, blast beat drumming, and blazing tempos that characterize the latter. Those sounds were hard enough to come by on Alcest's previous two albums; now, with a couple exceptions (like the lung-shredding screams of "Là où Naissent les Couleurs Nouvelles"), they have been almost completely exorcised. And even when Les Voyages de l'Âme delves into minor-key atmospherics, the production is bright and crisp, never lo-fi. Instead of dwelling on despair, hopelessness, torment and suicide, like 95% of black metal acts, Alcest are still out to perfect their brand of uplifting, sun-kissed, melodic rock music, with occasional nods to the scene from which they sprouted. Each time they incorporate urgency and intensity, like on side-two highlight "Faiseurs de Mondes," there is something else to balance it out, like the Creation Records textures of "Summer's Glory" or the triumphant near-balladry of the title track.
Seeing the band play in Austin a few days ago confirmed just how much they've mastered this approach. Doe-eyed frontman Neige, who pens and records all of Alcest's studio instrumentation and vocals, except for drums, was very much a beacon of anti-showmanship, staring out longingly over the crowd while performing, with the occasional "Thanks very much!" sprinkled between. Positioned at center stage, Neige naturally drew the most attention, but this was a group effort: second guitarist Zero was tasked with the vocal harmonies that Neige layers in the studio, while five-string bassist Indria and drummer Winterhalter (who also plays with Les Discrets) provided a hard-hitting rhythm section. When not singing, Neige directed his attention to his guitar, engulfing the crowd in swirling distortion and harmonics; whoever introduced this guy to his first Fender Jaguar should be given a medal.
Alcest's live show was as expertly sequenced as their new album, with the band opening with "Autre Temps" (hey, if it isn't broke...) and building from there. Except for the propulsive "Les Iris," from Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde, the initial half-hour was centered around Les Voyages de l'Âme. As the evening progressed, the band pulled out a few choice cuts from their first two albums. The small capacity crowd (maybe 200 people) greeted "Printemps Emeraude," also from Souvenirs, with the most raucous cheers of the night. The front section moshed joyously during "Percées de Lumière," which broke up the predominantly atmospheric mood with Neige screaming into his mic in true black metal fashion. When Alcest called it a night after about an hour—no encore—the crowd filed out, satiated. The concert was marked by Neige's low-key confidence in his songs, not his stage presence. Except for the band playing in front of me, partially obscured by the dim, unchanging lighting and smoke machine, it sounded pretty similar to when I play the albums at home; I'd imagine Neige would take that as a compliment.
Three albums in, Alcest have more or less perfected their style, and with more and more bands blending black metal with other genres, their influence on peers and newer acts seems to be catching up with them. The band they are most often compared to—My Bloody Valentine—cemented their legend and critical reputation by bowing out at the height of their powers. Alcest, on the other hand, seem like they are just warming up, currently in the midst of their first extensive US tour. Whether or not they can evolve their sound without the formula growing stale remains to be seen. For now, Les Voyages de l'Âme, while not the runaway best album of their career, is a fine encapsulation of Alcest's strengths and an achievement in its own right.
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