F*ck yes. I haven't even watched the video, but there isn't a lot of people reacting to them and they are the pioneers of blackgaze (black metal+ shoegaze), well Niege is (vocalist, guitarist and composer). This is not their most metal song, it's okay to get into the band, but not the best for the theme. They started as more like black metal, they have some chiller albums and others, like this one that has a mix between softer songs and the harsher ones, that is mainly reflected on the vocals, but even then you don't get the aggressive/dark vibe, Niege's harsher vocals are more like a lament that gets mixed with the instrumentals (which is common on this black metal sub sub genre)
Fun fact about this song (and many others in the Alcest catalog): there are no lyrics for this song. It's all vocal «improvisation» meant to sound melodic and with no particular meaning !
I am SO happy to see Alcest get some love. their music is beautiful in a way youd never see coming. Ecailles de Lune is one of my favorite albums of all time
The brief ambient atmospheric female vocals in this track at that quiet break bit were done by Katherine Shepard. She has her own cool project called Sylvaine. There's a great live session 3 song set performances on you tube. Have a listen to Mørklagt to start. Quite a good performance. Cheers.
This band does so much with so little, no flashy or technical instrumentation, no crazy over the top vox, this band is giving the lesson that less is more
Fantastic song and album! Zeal & Ardor is another unique band mixing Black metal with African-american spirituals. I recommend "Don't you dare" by them.
Oh boy, what have you gotten yourself into x) there's a lot to talk about with Alcest/Neige, the guy has had so many bands (Amesoeurs, Alcest, he wrote stuff for Sylvaine, also wrote for Unreqvited, etc) and spans a really wide range in musical genres, I put him in the same category as Agalloch it's not really black, it's not just post-rock either, and it doesn't have the same feel as modern blackgaze, so it lives in it's own bubble and it's great for what it is
Hahaha "there's been a mistake, this isn't black metal" had me laughing. Alcest is unique, they haven't really changed their sound and are still a black metal band, but they fuse it pretty well with post-rock and shoegaze. There are songs in this same album where Neige (the vocalist) screams like a regular black metal vocalist. I'd suggest checking out their song Percées De Lumière if you want to hear what their more metal stuff sounds like.
Eh, if something within a certain genre sounds completely different than their ancestors, it falls out of the genre or into other subgenres. Why is it so hard for people to understand. I mean literally, there's almost nothing "black metal" about it, and it's not an insult, the band is amazing, it's just not black metal, and it doesn't have to be, and it's especially terrible that people are trying to represent the genre with post/shoegaze stuff, it's completely different. Listen to Darkthrone, come back and say that Alcest is black metal, lol. And again, I'm not being an elitist, like I said, Alcest is amazing, it's just not black metal, at least most of their discography isn't.
Alcest is just a band that is very good at making metal sound beautiful. Là Où Naissent Les Couleurs Nouvelles is probably my favorite song of theirs, just heavy melancholic sounds. Like the most gorgeous sadness I could imagine.
This is one my favorite tracks by Alcest. He has such an interesting style...calm with snippets of intensity sprinkled throughout. Really love the atmospheres he creates in many of his songs...gotta love that blackgaze. Personally I’m not the hugest fan of straight up black metal but it seems to meld with with other ideas- blackgaze, atmospheric black metal, psychedelic black metal, avant-garde. Thanks for checking out Black metal and some groups doing some cool stuff! Peace!
So glad you finally did Alcest. Easily one of my favorite bands. This song is just gorgeous. If you want to do more of their stuff I would highly recommend the next song on the album Eclosion, Percees De Lumiere, Sapphire, or Delivrance. Alcest is more on the Shoegaze side of Blackgaze but are still excellent. Also pretty close on my name pronunciation but you were overthinking it a little I think, it's just like Ricky-Az.
Awesome track and reaction, but you should really listen to Eclosion to get a better feel for their sound. Glad you called out what was happening rhythmically in that song. Winterhalter is a fantastic drummer. A few years ago Fred Armisen mentioned Kodama as one of his favorite drum albums of the year.
I've been pretty disappointed with the song choices here for Black Metal. I guess you kind of get the shadow of an idea of what the genre is like, but I was hoping for a dive into the real stuff. I guess people just assume that you won't like it. Its not an unsafe assumption, but still. I think the mindset can be achieved. These are a list of songs that will give you a 100% accurate understanding of what Black Metal is about. Darkthrone - To Walk The Infernal Fields Satyricon - Dark Medieval Times Burzum - Jesus Tod Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas Baxaxaxa - Church of The Anti-Christ Obtained Enslavement - Witchcraft Bathory - Call From The Grave Dark Funeral - Shadows Over Transylvania
At least something from Emperor's Into the Nightside Eclipse would have been good. They are a bit more accessible while still having all the features of black metal.
Blind comment (as in, before watching the video fully) This band is fantastic! Interesting story this band started out as a more typical black metal outfit until the singer/composer heard a review about how his band was very melancholic. He didn't like how this was the perception so intentionally set out to do something that was uplifting as opposed to just melancholy and the result is one of the more unique sounding metal bands out there: it isn't exactly "happy" sounding like the bombastic, major scale happy power metal bands but it also isn't as depressive and melancholy sounding as all the phrygian and meldic/harmonic centric metal bands out there but something entirely different.
I love Alcest, their mood. For me they are black metal too in texture somewhat, but they generate somewhat different emotions. Beautiful band. Check their song sur l’ocean couleur de fer. Also check out the band Les Discrets if you get a chance.
Check out Ulver as well - they also started as black metal but later became waaay experimental. In the post-rock field, check out Long Distance Calling, they have some interesting things.
Alcest make such breathtakingly beautiful music. I love how deceptively simple they are; unless you listen closely it's easy to miss many of the rhythmic and harmonic nuances that you point out here because it's easy to just wrap yourself up in that atmosphere like a blanket. Their first two albums were definitely more black metal, while this song/album (and the preceding album, Shelter) were far more on the shoegaze/dream-pop side of things. I love both aspects of the band. My favorite from them is probably Écailles De Lune, but I don't think they have a weak album. I had recommended Les Voyages De L'Âme because I think it shows off their BM/shoegaze mix better than this, but I can definitely see you enjoying this side of them much more.
Hey Bryan, in other ocasion do "Sur L'océan Couleur De Fer ", it's very emotional with a sad feel, and with the same beautiful sound from them. It's a song worth to check also.
This album, Ecailles de Lune and Souvenirs d'un autre monde are all fantastic. If you ever wanna dig deeper into the band's catalogue, those are the records to prioritize
I never thought you'd react to Alcest, one of my favorite bands! You should also react to their songs 'Je suis d'ailleurs' (my favorite of them, from the same album) or 'Protection'. Kodama is one of their chillest songs but you will find black metal in those two I've mentioned, especially 'Je suis d'ailleurs'
Would have gone with something from Les Voyages de l'âme (Faiseurs de monde or the title track) or Écailles de lune (title track), if you're looking for more black metal vibe / sound. But as I mentioned in Deafheaven video, Alcest's sound is absolutely gorgeous.
Should have went back in time a little to the Ecailles de lune album, more specifically the song Percées de lumière is highly recommended! Alcest is at their best with more harsh vocals mixed in.
Their very first EP was what would be considered Black Metal, which can be found here, ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mRymk_ncSwg.html Their following albums changed to Shoe Gaze mixed with Post Black Metal, Prog influences depending on the album. The only time they could be truly considered Black Metal was that first EP, which not a lot of people are aware of.
Alcest started out as Shoegaze black metal band (aka Blackgaze) and over time have become less metal and more post-metal. Autre Temps is still my favourite song, brings me to tears ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-85c-P9hbmBg.html
Could you react to the song 'Hyperventilate', by Frost* ? Thank you! "Frost* is an English neo progressive rock supergroup, formed in 2004 by Jem Godfrey and members of Arena, Kino, and IQ. "
I've never been able to get much into Alcest, a little too pretty for me. This song was interesting though, parts of it remind me of Isis, a post-metal band I really like. “So Did We” or “The Beginning and the End” are good to get a feel for their sound.
Well, i stopped with alcest three albums ago if i recall.They were not interresting anymore for me. I guess, with this one, i may check that album, after all.
It's not, not even close. Their demo Tristesse hivernale was, but the rest could be described as blackgaze or post-black metal mixed with sheogaze. They still use some black metal elements except for their album Shelter which is no metal at all, but still a great album.
