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Alcest - Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde

France. Never a country famed for it's sterling music, particularly in the area of metal. Indeed, despite fellow countrymen Deathspell Omega and a couple of other rising bands in the black metal scene, Alcest are one of the only notable acts from the country. 'Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde' is the bands first full-length release, and it's certainly one that is worth taking notice of. Combing the best elements of avante-garde black metal, post-rock and folk, Alcest have what it takes to make both challenging and entertaining music.

So, how to describe the bands music? The best way I've seen it described is either black metal through the lens of shoegaze, or shoegaze through the lens of black metal. This album abandons the band's black metal roots almost entirely, simply leaving some high mournful tremolo picking in the background, and the main focus in the album is more on the folk and post-rock elements of the band's sound. The tracks have a tendency to blur into one, but this does not detract from the experience but instead adds to the ethereal and rather melancholic atmosphere that Alcest produce on this record. The album largely explores the possibilities of the softer side of metal, no crushing riffs or harsh vocals here, but plenty of beautiful passages.

The production on the album also keenly adds to the effect. The guitars are high and shill above the drums but not in a particularly harsh way, whilst the vocals both male and female float in and out of the music adding a particularly affecting ethereal touch. NEIGE, the mastermind behind Alcest has stated that the band's music and particularly this album focus on make-believe and dream worlds, and the production certainly brings about the right atmosphere to bring the listener into the headspace with him. The only thing that can be levelled as a complaint against the album is that the drums do sound rather like a drum machine, if they are, then that is just lazyness, if not, then that was a poor job on that part of the production.

This has been one of the most pleasant listening surprises I've had all year. It's rare to hear a band who do something genuinely interesting with an old template, and Alcest have certainly managed to do that. Whilst 'Souvenirs' is not going to be an album the oldiest frostiest, grim black Metallers will appreciate, it manages to take the black metal genre into whole new areas and for that it should be applauded. 'Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde' entirely deserves the high mark it's been rewarded.