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1. Alcest’s Evolution: Feedback from the Fans
Henry Buckham
Northern Europe is indisputably the birthplace of extreme genres like black metal and it
doesn’t come as a surprise that this underground phenomenon has spread to central Europe,
creating huge, mystical scenes under the folds of Germany, France, the United Kingdom and
beyond. Yet you can look beyond the shrieks of Satanist lyrics to find a small refuge, a hollow
in a dark void carved by the few that stray away from the corpse paint and guttural to create
something of their own, a emotional light in the darkness of one of the most controversial
genres in the spectrum of music. I am of course referring to blackgaze, a moody fusion of
black metal and fusion pioneered by France’s Alcest.
Now let’s take a minute to make this clear from the start. Alcest was never squeaky clean.
Indeed the very genre that Neige strayed away from was the genre he began in with the
demo tape Tristesse hivernale, a half hour recording of a raw black performance performed
when Alcest was a trio with members that went on to perform in the darker and heavier Peste
Noire. But that was way back in 2001, time has moved on and so has the band. In 2014, after
four albums, Alcest has severed all ties to their origins to embrace an emotional and
melodical sound inspired by the works of early 90s shoegaze acts such as Slowdive and
Ride. Gone are the raw vocals and thick drum beats, in their place we now find a refuge from
life’s sometimes throttling grasp, a place to truly express ourselves and refresh our minds to
remember who we truly are.
With this evolution in sound Alcest has experienced a revolution with their fanbase. Like all
acts there are times when some people love, and some people loather with all the rage their
psyches can muster. Those who were sworn by Alcest’s primitive and chaotic former releases
have ejected themselves from this new direction the act took and jumped back into the God-hating
world of black metal. Meanwhile however, Alcest continues to find themselves new
fans to take under their wing, and surprisingly, a majority of them are females. Indeed, from
recent research undertook, a bigger number of respondents are female, who are uncommon
in the male-dominated metal scene. The soft sound of Shelter has proven to be a sharp hook
to pull in more fans to listen than the heavier albums ever could.
But the surprising revelations of the new fans do not stop there. Most of our respondents had
found Alcest very recently, mostly from the Internet and the earliest was reported around
2007, the time of Souvenirs D’un Autre Monde’s release. Youtube user Grabesmond quotes
that she ‘discovered Alcest in 2008 I think , when a friend showed me "Souvenirs d'un autre
monde" so that I can tell you that our female metal compatriots have been around a lot longer
than we think. Maybe just now, with all metal ties all but gone, that the fans of the softer
sound have made themselves much more prominent in the community.
One of the bigger questions asked however: Which is the best Alcest album? Response has
always been mixed as it’s a subjective topic – Someone might like it while someone might
not, that’s art. But it seems that a lot of people consider Le Voyages de l’Âme as Alcest’s
magnum opus that includes myself thanks to it being my first exposure of the band. One of
our respondents says that it’s soft at the same time hard, with the harder influences not too
dominating. Another says that the album is a ‘perfect mix of soft and hard music.’ On the
other hand however, as to be expected by many fans and Neige himself, response to Shelter
was very mixed, with most claiming that while the album offered some amazing soundscapes
and joyful moods, the songs felt a little weak in regards that most built up only to crash down
with no real hit. Others progressed along tempting listeners to believe there was a huge drop
incoming, yet nothing of the sort came around.
The favorite music genres that we managed to discover came as no surprise – Metal was the
dominant answer for our fans, mostly thanks to the stark background of the band and its
exposure through publications such as Metal Hammer and Terrorizer, where it can gain
traction and pick up a lot of metalheads for the ride. However, their recent releases have also
garnered attention from the post-rock scene and other related soundscapes. Ambient,
shoegaze and neofolk are all genres that Alcest includes a little drop of in their work, helping

2. them reach out to a wide spectrum of different listeners from a plethora of musical
backgrounds.
Following the fourth album’s release the duo has slowed down, offering the odd interview and
tour. But latest reports have suggested that work has begun on a fifth album, which will be
recorded in New Jersey and has been stated by Neige to be ‘including more of a emphasis on
rhythm and an introduction of jungle-inspired motifs.’ Alcest has really turned themselves
around in recent years, pushing out all memories of their heavy and raw past to gift us this
special place for us to think and remember about the memories of life’s happiest times.
Shelter gives us a shelter from life’s choking embrace and offers us a sanctuary to remember
who we truly are.
Side Bar
TIMELINE OF ALCEST
2000 Project begins as Neige’s solo act, focusing on raw black metal. Soon after Aegnor and
Argoth join the band and Alcest becomes a trio.
2001 The demo tape Tristesse hivernale is released. Soon after, Alcest becomes a one-man
entity again with Aegnor and Argoth leaving due to disagreements with Alcest’s new direction
and to focus on Peste Noire.
2005 The EP Le secret is released, marking the beginning of Alcest’s new direction into softer
music, though still heavily inspired by black metal.
2007 Alcest signs to Prophecy, a German label. In August of the same year the debut studio
album Souvenirs D’un Autre Monde is released.
2009 Peste Noire and Les Discrets drummer Winterhalter joins the band.
2010 The second studio album Écailles de Lune is released in March. Zero and Indria join the
band (live members only.)
2012 The band’s third album Le Voyages de l’Âme is released in January.
2013 Winterhalter leaves his other band Les Discrets to become a permanent member of
Alcest.
2014 The fourth studio album Shelter is released, and for the first time Alcest severs all ties to
black metal to embrace a pure dream-pop style.