Alcest - "Les Chants de l'Aurore"
Capturing the majesty and hope of the rising sun
Okay, bear with me for a moment. Look at the album cover, above. Meditate on it. Think about what it inspires, just based on the visual.
The album cover, in my opinion, feels very accurate to the vibes on this album. Wild, atmospheric, reverent, and joyous. It is, largely, music you can lose yourself in.
And it was important to spell that out — I need that in your mind before we get to the more technical genric descriptors because there are some labels that people hear which immediately turn them off. A large percentage of the world’s population would assume, incorrectly, that The Satanic Temple is some sort of dark religious group actively trying to find the Anti-Christ or something. If you aren’t aware of what they do, check that link to their ‘About’ page.
Alcest are a French band from Bagnols-sur-Cèze, near the country’s southern coast. Not far from the Alps, either. Absolutely gorgeous country there, I imagine; the polar (ha) opposite of the harsh winters of Scandinavia, where a lot of Death and Black Metal acts originate.
Because, yes, Alcest is a Black Metal group.1 More specifically, they are Post-Black and Blackgaze. Now, there’s a lot I can say about how I generally break down these genric classifications and what the terms tell me, but I’ll try to be brief:
Black Metal: A style derived from aspects of Death, Thrash, and Hardcore Punk. It almost always has harsh vocals, heavy bass and percussion, and is frequently led by guitar as much as, if not more than, the vocals. Vocals are not as aggressive as other Extreme Metal styles, either. Where Death and Thrash are more visceral, Black is more cerebral, closer to Doom. It also draws more anti-establishment themes from its punk influence. If Death Metal is Final Destination, Black is 1984.2
Post-Metal; Post-Rock: “Post-” genres are all about breaking down expectations.3 They are musical apocalypses, in which the standards are all gone. All the basic elements from the root genre are present, but they’re reapplied and rearranged to make something entirely new. In most cases, the result is an atmospheric, otherworldly soundscape.
Shoegaze: Shoegaze got its name because music journalists at shows noticed that the band members were so focused on their music, so lost in the sound, that they never looked up…just head-down, playing for all they’re worth. Shoegaze is often technical, but also blissful. It’s a genre that, when done right, allows you to get lost in the sound. It’s typically a light rock genre, but has a closely-related sibling in Dream Pop.
Mash all of these elements together, and you have this album that has the same atmospheric depth of Post-Rock/Metal; the vibrant complexity of Shoegaze; and the underlying intensity of Metal.
Alcest originally formed in 2000, and they’ve been releasing albums since 2007. Les Chants de l’Aurore, which translates to The Songs of Dawn, is their seventh studio album. They’ve been at this a while; and while I’ve never heard any of their earlier work, I’m damn sure going to be going back to sample it. Or get lost in it.
The vocals on Les Chants de l’Aurore are almost entirely in French, though one user on Genius has provided translations for tracks 2-4. The translated lyrics and the additional context provided are just as gorgeous as the music, itself, particularly for “Flamme Jumelle” (“Twin Flame”; which is honestly probably my favorite track on the album). The only exception to the French is the opening to “L’Enfant de la Lune”, which has a brief narration in Japanese.
Stylistically, the vocals are a blend of clean and harsh, and very legato in both. They’re also half-buried in the mix, giving this dreamlike quality to the lyrics and making the album feel almost entirely instrumental.
Keys are as important to the composition as strings, with the guitars frequently backing down for gentler instruments to assume the lead. The other side of that coin, though, is the driving percussion — much of the album’s momentum is derived from the double-kick bass which pops up frequently when the music turns harder and the more Metal aspects emerge. This gives the album a sort of rollercoaster feel. Sometimes you’re just sitting and waiting as you climb the hill, then the drums kick you off aggressively and you gain speed and momentum, and then coast for a while, climb another hill, and go again. The only downside to this is that sometimes the top half of the song is still atmospheric when the drums are saying GO!GO!GO! — and that sort of pulls you out of it a bit. In fact, the very first instance of this is early on in opener “Komorebi”.
But if that is my biggest complaint? I mean…it could be so much worse.
I was very skeptical coming into this. I’m iffy on Black. If you look at the only other Black Metal album review I have recorded here, on Substack, it’s a Yellow; I am biased against harsh vox, despite that I am getting better about accepting them. However, I do love atmospheric music. Post-Metal and Shoegaze are delicious experiences, and blending those elements into the Black has not just made it palatable — it’s downright excellent.
Rating: Blue
There are actually only two core members of Alcest. They have two more members that tour with them, but all of the studio work is done by just two guys, who go by the stage names Neige and Winterhalter.
I have to note that both of these genres are much broader, thematically, than these comparisons give them credit for.
And this brief, broad statement is the only way that Post-Grunge lines up with other Post- genres. It’s a poorly-chosen label that we are, unfortunately, stuck with.