Alcest Biography

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Biography Alcest

Alcest is a band from Avignon, France. Beginning as a raw black metal act, Alcest later became a vessel for Neige's memories of another world as the band evolved into his solo-project. While Alcest still retains black metal roots, the music now draws comparison to other genres such as shoegaze and post-rock. Neige has stated in interviews that he had not listened to these types of music prior to the recording of Souvenirs d'un autre monde. Alcest is currently under contract with Prophecy Productions to release five albums.

Band history

Alcest was formed by Neige in 1999 as a solo project. Soon after, the band became a three-piece black metal outfit, consisting of Neige on vocals, rhythm/acoustic guitar, and drums, Arguth on bass, and Hegnor (now known as Famine who worked with Neige in Peste Noire) on lead guitar. In 2001, the band released a 4-track demo tape entitled Tristesse Hivernale on Drakkar Productions. Not long after the demo was released, the band once again became a one-man entity, with Neige taking Alcest in a more personal direction. Neige, having originally formed Alcest as an outlet to create cold and raw black metal, moved away from the minimalist approach with the follow-up to Tristesse Hivernale, entitled Le Secret. This EP, released in May of 2005, is an introduction of sorts to the new concept behind the reformed Alcest. Reviews for Le Secret proved to be largely positive, praising Neige for his use of a nostalgic and overly pleasant atmosphere, which is typically unusual in black metal. The latest album, titled Souvenirs d'un autre monde, was released in Autumn of 2007 on Prophecy Productions. In August 2007, Tristesse Hivernale was released by Northern Silence Productions in August 2007 as a split with French black metal band Angmar.

Band concept

As a child, Neige had fantasies of being in contact with a "far off country", which he generically refers to as "Fairy Land". Alcest serves as the musical adaptation of the memories from this fantasy world. Neige intends for Alcest to be a journey for the listener to this world through his memories. This change in concept was first introduced on Le Secret. Souvenirs d'un autre monde will serve as a literal summation of the concept behind the band.

Misinterpretation

Early reviews of Le Secret regarded it as a cold and melancholic black metal release, much to Neige's surprise and disappointment. In an interview conducted by Aeternitas Tenebrarum Music Foundation webzine, he responded to these interpretations, as well as the mention of his vocals creating a "sinister mood":

:A sinister mood???.... That really bothers me that you should say that because that proves that I did not succeed in communicating what I had inside me... I just wanted to create a maternal chant, hypnotic and unreal, similar as to what i have heard in the fairy land; certainly not a "dark" chant. My melodies are strange but not stressfull, at least I hope not! The lousy production and strangled chant can maybe explain things. If you could have understood my texts, I don't think you would have said that because they are not texts on sadness or anxiety, I keep that for Mortifera. I plan to re record "Le secret" soon and include two tracks in one album, I hope that this time there will be no compromise as you are not the first person to feel my music as dark music.

Another misconception is the inclusion of female vocals on Le Secret; all vocals on this EP were performed by Neige. Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde, however, included guest female vocals by Audrey from Amesoeurs.

In a recent interview with Neige conducted by an indie label he stated that "Souvenirs d'un autre monde" took between 5-7 years to compose and when asked about doing another full-length anytime soon he has stated he wants his fans to "take time to really open up to "Souvenirs" and to be patient as it will be sometime before I release anything like it in whatever form"