Alcest - Écailles De Lune review
| Band: | Alcest |
| Album: | Écailles De Lune |
| Style: | Shoegaze, Atmospheric black metal |
| Release date: | March 2010 |
01. Écailles De Lune - Part 1
02. Écailles De Lune - Part 2
03. Percées De Lumière
04. Abysses
05. Solar Song
06. Sur L'océan Couleur De Fer
Souvenirs D'Un Autre Monde was something quite new. Its combination of Black metal and Shoegaze, occasionally referred to as 'metalgaze', revealed that even metalheads occasionally dig warm, subtle music conceptually revolving around a wonderland or fairyland, where the bunnies hop through gently sloped meadows and spring is everlasting and more wonderfully jolly things. Who knows, maybe we're not as inevitably hell-bound as we think we are.
Écailles De Lune is inspired by the sea and revolves around a man that decides to leave this world for another one. Literally. Yey fairies. Neige opted for a slightly different focus in sound to match the new theme. Gone are the happy, overjoyed acoustics, in comes a more ethereal and heavenly sound. Écailles De Lune differs from its predecessor in that, where Souvenirs felt down-to-earth and "relaxing in the grass and under a warm summer sun"-human, Écailles is equally beautiful but much more angelic and thus, slightly less human. It's everything but a complaint, mind you.
Écailles De Lune is also much more diverse than Souvenirs. Whereas on Souvenirs Black metal merged with Shoegaze to a point where the Black metal was almost unrecognisable, Écailles contains a few truly dark Black metal passages. Neige proves he still has what it takes to pull off his high-pitched scream, alongside his soothing humming-like cleans. Both the shift in genre and the angelic attitude of modern day Alcest are perfectly illustrated in the track "Écailles De Lune (Part II)".
"Percées De Lumière" is the moment of transition in the storyline, and thereafter the mood changes considerably. "Abysses" is a gloomy ambient interlude, followed by "Solar Song" and "Sur L'Ocean Couleur De Fer" which get progressively more distant and hallow, until finally the last traces of, I don't know, 'Fairy Land' are gone. Lyrically cheesy, but musically, absolutely wonderful and captivating.
You might have to abandon the 'omg clean vox so ghey!' and 'br00tal metuhlz' motto's for a while in order to appreciate Écailles De Lune. Although the first half of the album might help the transition from regular metal to this, the latter part of the album might prove to be a little difficult. If you're no stranger to ethereal music, angelic atmospheres and other divine stuff, don't skip this one.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 8 |
| Production: | 8 |
 | Written on 29.03.2010 by If you're interested in extreme, often emotional and underground music, check out my reviews. I retired from reviewing, but I really used to be into that stuff. |
Rating:
8.9
8.9
|
Rating: 8.9 |
Imagine yourself lying on the bare ground of a desolated beach, gazing at the majesty of the full moon. Now close your eyes and focus on the sound of the nearby forest and sea. Wait for the high tide to wrap your body in a blanket of warmth and blissfulness. Listen to the call of the spirits of the night; follow them into the deep sea. Finally allow the hypnotic waters to consume your mortal life and embrace the splendor of Fairyland. This is the basic essence of Écailles de Lune. Read more ›› |
Comments
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Comments: 51
Visited by: 511 users
| JÄY Metal slave Posts: 1567  |
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| Konrad Mormon Storm Posts: 707  |
This is such a beautiful album  Nice review. Are lyrics translated into english yet?
---- Brujerizmo!
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306  |
Parts of this album reminded me of Arcana Coelestia's Le Mirage De L'Idéal, which is definitely a good thing; however, there were moments when I thought they could have focused more on the black metal aspect of their music in the latter portions of the album in spite of the dark passages you mentioned that appeared earlier. Nevertheless, this is still a great release, summed up perfectly by your review. 
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18274  |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 29.03.2010 at 19:02 "They"? Last time I checked, Alcest is still a one-man band. Good review Lucas, quite inspiring as it made me order one copy a few minutes ago... I just ordered the 1000-limited edition box. Sweet.... I want that friggin flag because the artwork is beautiful.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| BitterCOld The Ancient One Admin Posts: 15250  |
If you approve, that is a good sign indeed.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 29.03.2010 at 19:40 Same difference.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Bleak_Advent Posts: 14  |
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| annodomini Posts: 782  |
Yes, Alcest did it again. But i believe we have to put atention to LEs Discrets (the other band from Amesoeurs ashes), which also made a fantastic album. Two great french Metalgaze albums, which I believe will give a strong path to this new genre.
---- the riddle wants to be...
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| Bleak_Advent Posts: 14 |
Written by annodomini on 29.03.2010 at 23:42 I am also waiting on that release to be delivered. I have high expectations for it.
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| Baz Anderson Staff Posts: 13237  |
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| Bleak_Advent Posts: 14 |
Written by Baz Anderson on 30.03.2010 at 01:18 Shoegaze is a subgenre of alternative rock that started in the 80's and pretty much ended in the mid 90's. The genre is categorized by layering of guitar parts (usually distorted) and the vocals being subdued in the sound. The genre is called shoegaze because musicians would stare at their effects pedals while playing. Check out My Bloody Valentine's album Loveless and Slowdive's Souvlaki to get an idea of what the true-to-genre stuff is.
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| Skøllgrim Northern Posts: 389  |
Doing a review on Alcest requires mentioning shoegaze or post-rock. Very much agree with the reviewer; strong album, heavier than the first and the variation introduced is very much welcome. Even though the first album kind of set the standard or had its own niche, I am very glad to see the album not being copied.
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| Øyvind Grave Digger Posts: 671  |
Great review as always, I haven't had time to listen to it yet, but I'm pretty sure the album is great (I wouldn't expect anything less from Neige, for that matter)
---- 
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| Baz Anderson Staff Posts: 13237 |
Written by Bleak_Advent on 30.03.2010 at 01:24 Layered, distorted guitars, and vocals low in the mix - it hardly sounds genre-defining to me.
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| Lucas Mr. Noise Elite Posts: 13427  |
Written by Baz Anderson on 30.03.2010 at 11:38 It's also often sweet, although some bands have a dark edge to them. The vocals are subdued, yeah, but often clean and 'dreamy'. In fact, the whole genre is quite dreamy in the sense that most of it is a friendly-sounding, warm, massive blur of noises, often with poppy hooks etc. My Bloody Valentine - Only Shallow
---- SLUDGE. DOOM. DEATH. Wait, what?  "The reason I'm running for president is because I can't be Bruce Springsteen." - Barack Obama
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| Baz Anderson Staff Posts: 13237 |
Written by Lucas on 30.03.2010 at 12:25 That sounds quite cool, would be interesting to hear with (extreme) metal. "Shoegaze" just sounds like such a crap name for an apparent genre of music though, hahaha.
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| Inlé Posts: 334  |
I'll certainly give this a fair try. It has to be said that I was a bit on the fence with the last full length, though. After a few listens a couple of years back it's sort of been squatting on my computer doing not-a-lot. However, this review suggests that some of the elements I found negative and kitsch have been diluted or done away with this time around. Moderately hopeful about this being better.
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| ylside Staff Posts: 4727  |
Very good album. Recommended.
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18274 |
Written by Baz Anderson on 30.03.2010 at 12:31 Tastes differ I guess... I like the name of the genre, it sounds better than "Post-Rock" that has such a pretentious aura around the name imo.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Baz Anderson Staff Posts: 13237 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 30.03.2010 at 21:02 I would say "shoegaze" sounds more pretentious than "post rock"...
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| BitterCOld The Ancient One Admin Posts: 15250 |
Post-rock and post-metal are, imo, just tags applied to rock and metal by asshat journalists that are too pretentious to cop to actually liking rock or metal. by putting that "post" prefix on it, it's somehow different.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18274 |
Yeah.. that's what I believe too, I use that tag very often though since it seems that it's the easiest way to describe one certain band. For those reasons I would say that Post Rock/Metal is way more of a pretentious name than Shoegaze that it's just like... a dude looking at his shoes. But you know what? We can discuss about Alcest too!  I can't wait to get the limited edition...
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Visioneerie Urban Monster Posts: 810  |
I don't know guys... post-rock, shoegaze; I'm into music you know ? Friendly and warm black metal for the grim and deranged ? Cool, I'll give it a shot. (lol, who doesn't contradict thereself)
---- Any man can stand adversity, but to test his character give him power - A. Lincoln
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| Bleak_Advent Posts: 14 |
"Sur L'Océan Couleur De Fer" couldn't have been a more fitting close to a great album.
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| Zuzuz0r Posts: 507  |
Amazing album, I think this album had some Amesoeurs-like melodies, different from Souvenirs, though it still keeps the shoegaze elements on it, I agree on it being more diverse, Souvenirs was more straight(though it was an amazing album too). This isn't the kind of metal you would headbang or mosh too, and I hope this could be Neige's definitive band(or project), this and Les Discrets debut(along with ORwarriOR) are my favorites of the year atm.
---- If this grand panorama before me is what you call God Then God is not dead.
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| Evaeel Posts: 2  |
This album is awesome! I love the cover album *-*
---- And heavens cried blood.. I felt no regrets for her death
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| Ragana Rawrcat Posts: 4919  |
After hearing Les Discrets (the début album with a name I don't remember), I was kinda asking myself why it's been compared with Alcest which I haven't even heard. Now that I have heard Alcest too (at least this album), I can understand why. Both albums seem to be more or less similar in genre (shoegaze, that is... wtf is shoegaze?) but Alcest sounds more complicated and darker. Also, what is really cool, the length of the album is not impressive or anything. They have made sure people won't die of boredom... ever. Isn't that wonderful? Anyway, the album seems to be really nice. I liked the song "Percées De Lumière" a lot - I just wish it was 9 minutes long. *sad face* Quote: Yay, bunnies everywhere!
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18274 |
Written by Ragana on 03.04.2010 at 17:40 Well, it seems like you haven't head Alcest's debut then... Because that one is everything but dark. But yeah. This album is dark, probably because the screams are back, their debut on the other hand was 100% peaceful moments imo. Maybe it's just me, but I find quite surprising that few people know the word Shoegaze. Last time I checked one of the most representative bands of the genre, My Bloody Valentine, was well known... at least I knew about their existence since I was like 12 or something. Anyway... I like to call shoegaze for "Raw pop"  You can always read something about it and check the video Lucas posted in response to another person that asked about shoegaze a couple of posts ago.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Ragana Rawrcat Posts: 4919 |
Yeah, I have heard exactly one point zero album by Alcest but I'll keep exploring the band. First time I noticed the word 'shoegaze' about a year ago. It made me think of shoes and gas and I thought, whatever it is, it's surely something silly. Meanwhile, people started to chat about it and I always heard how cool it is. I bet if I had heard a good example back then, now I'd probably know what's Alcest, but no - I'm a lazy person and if I'm not interested enough, I don't search for the information and it was a lucky coincidence I noticed the thread in MS about Les Discrets - I just liked the band's name, haha. Yeah, I already did all you just said. That song was pretty cool. :>
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| Zuzuz0r Posts: 507 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 03.04.2010 at 18:39 That album I think it's a borderline between metal and shoegaze, it's still "heavy" but the music itself is far from being aggresive, I'd call it a heavier version of Slowdive(for me it sounds closer to Slowdive than to MBV) or even Sigur Rós(not shoegaze, but the music is kinda similar). Quote: I think right now they could be more known than, let's say 10 years ago, most because of metal bands using shoegaze elements and people asking themselves "what the hell is shoegaze". Quote: Lol, possibly "raw pop" but IMO lots of shoegaze bands sound heavier than glam and today's mainstream rock
---- If this grand panorama before me is what you call God Then God is not dead.
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