Alcest - Écailles De Lune - review
Alcest - Écailles De Lune - review
Tracklist
01. Écailles De Lune - Part 102. Écailles De Lune - Part 2
03. Percées De Lumière
04. Abysses
05. Solar Song
06. Sur L'océan Couleur De Fer
A review by
Lucas March 29, 2010
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 |
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 page 2 / 2
- 1
- 2
Comments:
52
Visited by
518 users
 Posts: 18612 |
Posts: 18612 Quote:Written by Zuzuz0r on 03.04.2010 at 21:04 Wait... what album are you talking about? Because I'm talking about Ecailles De Lune, saying that it was darker than Alcest's debut. I never called the debut or this album agressive.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
Loading...
|
 Posts: 4788 |
Posts: 4788
Percees de Lumiere is my favourite track so far.
Loading...
|
|
Posts: 507  |
Posts: 507 Quote:Written by X-Ray Rod on 04.04.2010 at 01:04 Lol, I was just talking about both albums(on my post), about the aggresive thing, was because of the screams, but only that, just wanted to say that about the band still having "metal" elements.
---- If this grand panorama before me is what you call God Then God is not dead.
Loading...
|
|
Posts: 14  |
Loading...
|
 Posts: 483 |
Loading...
|
 Posts: 15358 |
Posts: 15358 Written by ylside on 04.04.2010 at 15:53 that one sounds like it could be a Cure track at the start.
---- 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!
Loading...
|
| Posts: 18612 |
Posts: 18612 Written by BitterCOld on 08.04.2010 at 06:34 It's that a good thing or a bad thing in your opinion? 
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
Loading...
|
| Posts: 15358 |
Posts: 15358 Written by X-Ray Rod on 08.04.2010 at 17:56 i'm a huge cure fan, so it's not a bad thing.
---- 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!
Loading...
|
 Posts: 810 |
Posts: 810
Écailles de lune (part II) is outstanding while the rest of the tracks are fairly enjoyable. A nod to the singing on Solar Song.
---- Any man can stand adversity, but to test his character give him power - A. Lincoln
Loading...
|
 Posts: 1703 |
Posts: 1703
This album, like the first LP, is really quite good. Some parts are still very underwhelming to me though, but that may be because I am not used to Shoegaze and am very used to Black Metal.
---- Coldgrits
Loading...
|
 Posts: 847 |
Posts: 847 Written by Konrad on 29.03.2010 at 16:33 I just submitted an english translation for the lyrics 
---- Notre destinée n'est pas encore tracée....
Loading...
|
 Posts: 707 |
Loading...
|
 Posts: 2796 |
Posts: 2796
Nice review and it sums up the whole album nicely this is until now the album of the year for me , it puts me in a calm peaceful state of mind and some times tears of joy come rushing "WOW the last sentence sounds so ... " anyway I still have A Forest of Stars to listen to and of course the not yet released efforts of Mar De Grises , Officium Triste and hopefully Shining and Esoteric
---- He who is not bold enough to be stared at from across the abyss is not bold enough to stare into it himself.
Loading...
|
|
Posts: 96  |
Loading...
|
| nilzardo
Account deleted |
|
 Posts: 13427 |
Posts: 13427 Written by [user id=100131] on 01.02.2011 at 20:41 Okay, Jóse.
---- SLUDGE. DOOM. DEATH. Wait, what?  "The reason I'm running for president is because I can't be Bruce Springsteen." - Barack Obama
Loading...
|
| Posts: 15358 |
Posts: 15358
Perhaps nilzardo should read some interviews with Neige, eh?
---- 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!
Loading...
|
| nilzardo
Account deleted |
|
 Posts: 684 |
Posts: 684
I like this album, but the Solar Song isn't even good in my opinion, very weak and so lame that I can't keep my thoughts on it... I guess replacing it with Det Som En Gang Var would make this album perfect 
Loading...
|
|
Posts: 2466  |
Posts: 2466
This shit is even better than Souvenirs, possibly because of the slight-ish Black Metal injection. Keep it coming, Neige!
Loading...
|
 Posts: 1322 |
Posts: 1322
The intro arpeggio of Percees De Lumiere is timeless. The whole album is.
---- In that case, man is only air as well.
Loading...
|
|
Posts: 929 |
Nice review. Are lyrics translated into english yet?- 1
- 2
Hits total: 17233 | This month: 6