Alcest - Les chants de l’aurore (2024)^{Release ID: 52780}

Heavy metal fans deserve to be happy once in a while. We love to entrench ourselves in a sea of anger through intensity and loud noises, all the while an instrumental palette of minor harmonies and piercing dissonance rings through our ears. How hard is it for metal artists to use major keys and slightly more uplifting themes? Since the arrival of blackgaze around the late 2000s, we have seen this begin to take shape. One of my biggest appraisals of Deafheaven's Sunbather was how that album began; presenting a false sense of security and joy, even if the title track was anchored by a relentless percussion and howling black metal shrieks. Alcest have done much the same with Écailles de lune and Spiritual Instinct and I thought for sure that this would be the peak of "happy metal".

And while Les chants de l’aurore will continue in this style to mostly positive results, I would be lying if I said I enjoyed this as much as their previous output. Something about this record feels...too carefree and I don't know where that comes from. The tempos and grooves on Les chants de l’aurore are far less driving than ever before, giving a feeling of stagnation. This album does not truly evolve that much from its initial presentation on "Komorebi" and the remaining songs don't do very much to justify their extended runtimes. Not only that, but the instrumental textures behind Neige's vocals feel more muddy and condensed than on Alcest's previous/best records.

I think many people will give Les chants de l’aurore a free pass because of how beautiful it is. Overall the texture is still very nice and a sound that you have come to expect out of an Alcest project. Neige is embracing even more of his clean vocals than even Spiritual Instinct as the harsh black metal shrieks become more textured window dressing. But a lot like with Knocked Loose earlier this year, if you're gonna give a listener just one texture for an entire record, it can become quite stale the longer that project chugs along. Les chants de l’aurore is not a long record, which should be in its favour, but two shorter interlude tracks ("Réminiscence" and "L’adieu"), the remaining five tracks do not perform nearly as well to carry this record to the stars.

Best Songs: L'Envol, Flamme Jumelle, L'Enfant de la Lune (月の子)

Once again we have a fine example of Alcest challenging the very notion of evil in the black metal sound. There will be, however, some debate as to how "black" this album really is, considering that the usage of the genre seems to be limited to certain artistic choices between songs. In the opener, Komorebi, the blackness that helps to open the song is overshadowed by epic choir vocals like something out of a Hans Zimmer score or a Celtic new age album. However, L'envol isn't afraid to follow up the new age vocals that take the final act with a direct assault of atmo-black metal and kickstart another uplifting and catchy piece of pure Alcest. Neige's vocals are just as clear and crystalline as ever. Thanks to its incredibly cheerful approach, you can look back on a song and think to yourself, "this was eight minutes long!?" It still spends more time focusing on the post-metal, though. If you want straight up blackgaze, then Améthyste is the way to go. You can get just as lost in the atmosphere as you do in the rhythms.

Kickstarting the second half is the last of the two singles, the first being L'envol. Flamme Jumelle is a post-rock track that carries all the themes through a lighter, more accessible rock sound but manages to maintain the Alcest appeal perfectly, even when incorporating the mesmerizing tremelo-picking. I can see this being an Alcest stape for future concerts. Next is a piano and violin semi-instrumental (don't worry, it's only three minutes long), Réminiscence, which features Neige vocalizing in ways that just make me wanna effing meditate. The incorporation of new age elements was a spot-on choice. Next is L'Enfant de la Lune, which isn't quite as cutesy as the name would suggest, but makes for a good post-metal track that focuses on anthemic energy. It carries a heavily noisy approach but never really steers into blackgaze. Thankfully, this decision made the song more unique to the album as its approach was used similarly in Améthyste. We end things with L’adieu, which stays soft, ambient and serene throughout the whole five minutes, relying entirely on the sunset calm to recall the imagerey of that album cover in a more realistic fashion. Perfect ending.

It must be mentioned that Alcest is NOT, I repeat, NOT, trying anything that new. Just because there's less blackgaze on this album than before doesn't mean it's new for them. They're essentially repeating the less blackened songs of their past albums. The one time they changed their style, there was a little backlash, even though the album was alright. And if you ever read one of my reviews, you'd likely know that I'm the guy who promotes trying new thing and typically hates copying the hits. The thing is, Alcest's structuring of compositions and rhythms is certainly not conventional, and because of this, five albums of great blackgaze just isn't enough. Pair this with the fact that there are very few in this wonderful gimmick genre that can butt heads with the likes of Alcest and Deafheaven, and you may find yourself running back to this essential French band for more and more. Some say Sadness can, but is three bands really enough? But this album still isn't blackgaze, really. It's a further exercise in pretty atmospheres that's even less distracted by the depression and evil often associated with black metal. 

So time for the four questions:

1. What is the goal of this album? Seems to be an exercize in uplifting summery atmosphere rather than a blackgaze album, so the goal must be a slightly new direction that fans will still get behind.

2. Does it meet its goal? Well as an Alcest fan who just read some ratings after the album finished, I can guarantee that this is a major yes.

3. What did the album sacrifice or neglect to meet its goal? Really, the fact that this new direction is slight means there's some unoriginality involved.

4. Are the sacrifices made up for by other aspects of the album? Considering that the album still meets my standards for variety, atmosphere, rhythmic prowess, etc., I'm gonna say yes.

So this Alcest album is a grand reminder of what Alcest is capable of, but if you look at it closely, you'll see the band wants to go for something a little new. Nevertheless, they still put passion in it and are aware of their skills. I can see this being argued as a contender for best metal album of the year by the masses. I don't think I'd go that far (my current choice is Coagulated Bliss), but I've been waiting for the new Alcest since Spiritual Instinct, and now I'll be even more eagerly awaiting the eight studio album. Les chants de l’aurore cancelled out all my worries that Alcest lost its potency, even if their "new ideas" are technically reorganized rehashes of past ones.