Alcest - Les Voyages De L'âme review
| Band: | Alcest |
| Album: | Les Voyages De L'âme |
| Style: | Shoegaze, Atmospheric black metal |
| Release date: | January 06, 2012 |
| A review by: | Troy Killjoy |
01. Autre Temps
02. Là Où Naissent Les Couleurs Nouvelles
03. Les Voyages De L'âme
04. Nous Sommes L'emeraude
05. Beings Of Light
06. Faiseurs De Mondes
07. Havens
08. Summer's Glory
Over the course of the past few years, Neige has been not-so-quietly making a name for himself in the black metal scene, working his way through the likes of Mortifera and Peste Noire before contributing to - perhaps - his first real "experiment": Amesoeurs. An experiment that ended in name only...
With Alcest, Neige has been slowly incorporating more shoegaze elements into the mix with the passing of time. Écailles de lune made quite a few ripples in the black metal scene with its ethereal beauty and soothing tenderness, leading to this, Neige's most tranquil release to date.
Les voyages de l'âme is, quite simply, a shoegaze-oriented album with very few black metal elements, focusing almost entirely on extravagance and folkloric adventure, a journey through Neverland with faeries and woodland creatures singing along in tune to
Neige's clean vocals tie into the majestic picture, painting waves that step upon water, flowers that dance in merriment, elves and sprites among thousands of acres of eternal great oaks. Consider him the Peter Pan of metal. All of that, of course, is only accentuated by the sparsity of his abstracted howling shrieks and the return of ethereal female choir-like lullabies in the background... the Tinkerbell to Neige's own alter-ego.
It all seems to be a matter of perfection...
Once you poke the walls of this grandiose delusion, however, you will find they too ripple like the waves Neige created a few short years ago. There is little by way of actual content; the atmosphere feels synthetic, much like food conjured by magic having no taste. The apple appears without a mark: perfect, shining, juicy. Yet, upon biting into what looks like flawless fruit, one is left utterly disappointed at the complete lack of flavor. There are no bursting effects within these songs because there is no substance. Unfortunately what the world is left with is but a hollow tone, pretty on the outside... and completely empty within its sparkling shell.
Overlooking the lack of soul that comes with illusory sensations, there is still the traditional Alcestian beauty one would come to expect from a man of Neige's mindset, and that does indeed count for something. For great escapes into mystical lands and whimsical dreams that allow you to fly into the hearts of the universe's farthest-reaching stars, Les voyages de l'âme makes for some divine psychotropic inspiration. In the hands of someone more rational, someone without that childlike sense of wonder, someone unable to unlock the secrets of the pixie dust... this album will likely fall on deaf ears.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 5 |
| Originality: | 7 |
| Production: | 9 |
 | Written on 05.01.2012 by I'm total pro; that's what I'm here for. |
Comments
Comments: 96
Visited by: 565 users
| Ag Fox Angel No More Elite Posts: 4774  |
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| Kuroboshi Posts: 1202  |
Troy Killjoy, Faster Than The Wind! I thought you we're going to listen to it for the first time today.  Good review, And I really liked EdL, so I guess I will check it out, but you're not giving me hopes man. 
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306  |
Written by Ag Fox on 05.01.2012 at 08:43 Thanks... it practically wrote itself to be honest.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by Kuroboshi on 05.01.2012 at 08:50 I listened for the first time today... and then listened more. And more. I was initially going to give it an 8 but subsequent listens left that illusory bitter taste in my mouth. Lemme know what you think about the album though. If you're anything like me you'll enjoy it but it won't be among your top 10 for 2012.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| strade Posts: 677  |
I've listened to it a couple times today... haven't formed an extremely strong opinion on it yet, but I like it. Great review though. "Alcestian"... I am so stealing that term. 
---- My lo-fi synth project: http://luciddreamer.bandcamp.com
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| Mikyz Posts: 711  |
Actually, every Alcest album has this one thing missing, which is the factor that would make it as ethereal and memorable as Neige wants it to be. Nevertheless, I still love this album I must've listened to it 10 times since I listened to it yesterday, so I'd rate much higher than you did but it's a very good review anyway.
---- Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone.
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by Mikyz on 05.01.2012 at 09:25 I actually found the Lune very "real", if that makes sense. Something like that is completely subjective though... getting into a specific atmosphere that makes you feel a part of his dream concept. I didn't feel it this time around, and I'm sure there are going to be many people who feel the same way, as much as there will be people who disagree. If anything I suppose Neige deserves props for being able to make music heralded by some and maligned by others.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Mikyz Posts: 711 |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 05.01.2012 at 09:33 Lune might be closer to what Neige is trying to accomplish, I don't know... it's controversial... If we look at the music as waves, well... they never crest, in my opinion it needs to crest, reach some sort of apex.
---- Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone.
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by Mikyz on 05.01.2012 at 10:05 I agree with that. This album shows no signs of reaching that apex, and to be honest, I doubt if Neige will ever be able to "conclude" his music in such a way. I think his work on the Lune is as close as he'll ever get to writing something full-circle.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603  |
Peter Pan! That's the comparison I was looking for. I agree with the general tone of your review, although there will be people who won't, and of course, your writing is impeccable.
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18374  |
I would make the songwritting and performance higher, while the atmosphere just isn't there like the previous albums I still firmly believe the compositions are better objectively speaking....but sadly the feeling isn't really there. Or maybe I'm just blending performance and songwriting. In that case I would give it 9/7 respectively. But yeah, it's a 7/8 kind of album. It's a good album anyway, but nothing more... Which of course it's easily reflectable by your review which is well written btw. I'm probably just kind of sad that one of my favorite bands is slowly getting meh so it's hard to think about it.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Merchant of Doom Posts: 702  |
I quite enjoyed it... nice, relaxing, background music... I can even put it on when granny visits... 
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| 3dd Posts: 64  |
The blast beat, and the outstanding guitar riff at the ending of 'Faiseurs De Mondes' almost broke my repeat button. Is my favorite track so far. Also, it reminds me of the good old days of Amesoeurs. I wish they hadn't split up... It's a nice album, I think, 'Là où naissent les couleurs nouvelles' and 'Les voyages de l'âme' are very good songs, but yeah, the last song 'Summer's Glory', is very very very lame, sadly. Overall, I don't like where Alcest is turning into. We should prepare for the worse.
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| Unhealer Eclecticist Posts: 2311  |
You went full poetic with this one Troy  I was just going going to check it out, let's see...
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| pisymbol Posts: 193  |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 05.01.2012 at 09:02 I have to say I believe you should have sat on this CD a bit longer before writing a staff review. I am not asking for the proverbial "recount" either in the effort to garner a higher score. I just believe some albums take time to sink in and fully comprehend (again for better or worse). I mean you literally gave this album a few hours before writing a review. Please oh please tell me you did not review this off the stream on the FaceTubes and at least got a decent mp3 rip? I maybe in the minority but I am of the camp that every metal CD should be reviewed from its original source. Leaks and streams are notorious for their poor quality (since they can be used as a tool to mitigate online piracy). Finally, I think Metal Storm staffers owe the artists the respect of reviewing their music in the format in which it was intended. Many many artists go through great strives to achieve a certain production aesthetic that is completely lost with a low-fidelity online stream (can't imagine how "Ordo Ad Chaos" would sound like). Bottom line, I think there should be certain rules for staffer reviews as well! :-)
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| Windrider Raureif Posts: 684  |
I already thought about calling Neige the Euronymous of Shoegaze, but Peter Pan of (black) metal fits him most likely! Nice review, I hope the album will be better than you say, though.
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| Merchant of Doom Posts: 702 |
On second thoughts, I would have called the album "Les voyages de lame"...
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| Mikyz Posts: 711 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 05.01.2012 at 13:26 I don't agree, the atmosphere is undeniably there, it's just that he's stagnating, he still hasn't hit his stride that's all there is to it. I wouldn't rate this any lower than his previous album because it isn't particularly worse.
---- Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone.
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| Merchant of Doom Posts: 702 |
Written by Mikyz on 05.01.2012 at 16:05 True, it's a good album, like the previous ones, but there is little change and all the songs - from all 3 albums - sound the same to me. Can't tell them apart anymore. They've become one big magmatic flow of sameness... Time to evolve, methink...
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18374 |
Written by Mikyz on 05.01.2012 at 16:05 To me Nieges weakness was his own strenght of making something that most of us went "woa" with... It all went way too fast. Alcest should have developed way more the sound of Le Secret and then make it slowly into the shoegaze movement, it would be far easier to appreciate this stuff. Most of this albums sounds very samey and sometimes it felt like it didn't go anywhere, like you said..."he still hasn't hit his stride that's all there is to it". The album is still pretty good to me (and obviously to Troy if he gave it a 7,5) but yeah 7/8 material.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Boxcar Willy yr a kook Posts: 9161  |
Typo on fairies in the 3rd paragraph  nice review, although I doubt it will be something I will check out.
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| Unhealer Eclecticist Posts: 2311 |
Wow, big MEH at first listen :/ Definitely wasn't expecting that
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| Nachtland Posts: 2  |
This is a good and very beautiful Alcest album in my opinion, only Neige focused this time a bit more on the calm and atmospheric side, like he used to on "Souvenirs..." Many people may prefer the écailles-album and that might be a reason for being a little bit disappointed. I on the other hand am totally not! I love almost every single release of them. This is still Alcest and they still travel through beautiful and different worlds than ours... 9 out of 10.
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
Written by pisymbol on 05.01.2012 at 14:45 So, that means that MS staff shouldn't review most of the stuff the labels and artists send them? Because most of the times reviewers are sent downlaod links where they can download the mp3's of the album.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| Jiri Posts: 710  |
Written by Boxcar Willy on 05.01.2012 at 16:30 Nope. Faerie is acceptable: fa·er·ie Noun /ˈferē/ Fairyland the world of faerie A fairy Imaginary; mythical faerie dragons
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| Boxcar Willy yr a kook Posts: 9161 |
Written by Jiri on 05.01.2012 at 16:55 Touché.
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| Paz 777 Elite Posts: 4006  |
This album is good enough to satisfy the hungry fans. Nice review as always and so quickly!
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| pisymbol Posts: 193 |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 05.01.2012 at 16:34 That is completely acceptable. If the record company sends you this format, then they feel its review worthy. If you read my previous comment carefully, I did ask if Troy listened to a mp3 copy of the album, did I not? All I am stating is reviewing something off of YouTube is not really fair to the artist. I empathize with Troy and where I think you are going with your above question (if I may read into it a bit)... Where is the line drawn for acceptable review format? I don't know given the plethora of online avenues an artist can broadcast their music with various different formats supported (MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Soundcloud, Spotify, MediaFire (yes I have seen artists just put up a rar file to distribute), Google Music, etc.). I just think IFF Troy reviewed this from the YouTube stream I submitted, I believe that was a bit rash (he should be forced to review a new Beiber album as punishment). I don't think *any* artist would consider YouTube the proper format for reviews. Metal Storm should respect this in my opinion. Flame away....
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