Band:	Alcest
Album:	Les Chants De L'Aurore
Style:	Shoegaze, Atmospheric black metal
Release date:	June 2024

01. Komorebi
02. L'Envol
03. Améthyste
04. Flamme Jumelle
05. Réminiscence
06. L'Enfant De La Lune (月の子）
07. L'Adieu

Alcest as we've grown to love them.

Allow me to get a bit into my history with Alcest. Alcest is one of my top 10 favorite bands, or at least they became one at a formative part in my music listening journey and even as I've gotten to know more and more bands I didn't dare question the fact that Alcest could be dethroned from that position. I discovered them around the time that Shelter was released, but even though I was still more of a metalhead than I am now that I've grown to love a lot more from other genres, I never felt like that album was a weak point. I understand the more lukewarm reception that that album got, and I know it's not just the fact that it wasn't metal at all anymore, but that album served as my springboard into shoegaze and dream pop proper, and through its inclusion of Neil Halstead's guest vocals allowed me to discover Slowdive as well, and the rest is history. But when I arrived in Alcest's story, they did something quite bold, and in retrospect, it did feel quite like being part of history, albeit a very niche one.

Kodama was the first Alcest album to be "the upcoming Alcest album" for me. It's a bit silly to think that some music might need a spoiler warning the same way that movies or books would need, but I can't deny that my first listen of "Oiseaux De Proie" left me fully intoxicated by the return of the black metal elements. Even though I've grown on the first four Alcest albums, it was Kodama that feels like the one that crawled closest to my heart and the one that felt the warmest, and I can't deny that part of it is how pristine the production was, how great the drums sounded in it, and how heartwarming a lot of its melodies were. And of course how great the shrieks sounded. Alcest reintroducing the black metal elements, though that was not the only thing that made Kodama what it was, felt like being part of history, albeit a very niche one.

Two albums later, it feels like a bit of a betrayal on my part to not be excited about an Alcest album. I listened to every advance single as it arrived and liked them. I listened to the album multiple times, much more so than it usually takes for me to write about something. And I enjoy it every time. But it is a bit soured by the fact that I cannot feel the same spark, and it's through no fault of Alcest's that my every listen is weighed by expectations and by knowing I have to write this review and admit something that feels way too close to a personal failure. I remember how baffled I was when I read our review of Kodama and seeing how lukewarm corrupt felt about it when I felt so wildly differently about it. He also wrestled with expectations and with hopes of it growing, and eight years ago I never expected to find myself in the same position. Though it is a bit different. It feels like no longer being part of history.

I know, I know. I am a reviewer goddammit and I should talk about the music not just about myself. Alcest is a band that's very hard for me to be subjective about, and these are the hardest bands to review. There's a different kind of burden having such an album in your queue, whereas other albums I can breeze through. But whenever other reviewers talk about how their difficulty in writing and ask me how I can be so prolific I say "I just listen to the music and write about it". I can't really follow my advice here. How boring it would be to talk about what genres went into play here. We already know the sounds in which Alcest operate. We know all the ways the shrieks and the "ayaya"s switch places. We already know it's ethereal, majestic, fantastical, whimsical. It's beautiful. It's so so beautiful.

But if I had to force myself to be a bit objective about it, it does feel very contradictory that it simultaneously feels like a lighter album than Spiritual Instinct, though no less dense in terms of more metallic elements. Outside of the two more interlude/ambient-like tracks, there's no track doing away with metallic elements. There are moments that feel like they could be placed in other Alcest albums, like the more punchy metalness in "L'Enfant de la Lune (月の子)" potentially feeling at home on Écailles De Lune. That one gorgeous guitar line in "Flamme Jumelle", still my favorite element of the album, would feel at home on Kodama. Some elements do feel new though. The aforementioned "L'Enfant de la Lune (月の子)" not only has a piece of spoken word that is not in French (take a wild guess what language it's in), but also has a mid section bridge whose bass does have a hint of goth rock, and the track later introduces some very sparkly synths. The interludes and bridges are feel quite colorful, there's an acoustic guitar and synths bridge in "L'Envol" that is quite smooth, and "Réminiscence" relying on piano is a nice palette cleanser. "L'Adieu", with its strings and repeated motif feels like a cinematic score, and it's a closer that always leaves a sweet taste in my proverbial mouth.

I have no doubt that I will feel warmed and warmer to Les Chants De L'Aurore with time. Maybe I'm forcing myself to process it when it needs more time. Maybe I'm hearing too much of what they've already done and it sounds too predictable. I don't want Alcest to force themselves out of the lane they perfected when they sound so good doing it, but I also miss them making me feel like I was part of something bigger.