Stéphane ‘Neige’ Paut’s dating with blackgaze is sort of as unstable but timeless as Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne. The Alcest architect arguably invented the style with the undertaking’s 2005 EP Le Secret, however since then he’s 3 times attempted to flee its shadow: at the wholly post-rocking Souvenirs D’Un Autre Monde and Refuge albums, then maximum lately with 2019’s extra steel and cathartic Religious Intuition.
Unsurprisingly, the singer/multi-instrumentalist – joined via drummer Jean ‘Winterhalter’ Deflandre since 2009 – has at all times instantly returned to blackgaze’s dynamics, and Les Chants De L’Aurore marks but any other reunion. The guitars, razor-sharp on Religious Intuition, are tempered this day out, opener Komorebi pairing them with wealthy, symphonic strings. Winterhalter additionally dials down the aggro and, even if he on occasion selections up pace, Neige’s angelic vocals dominate the combo, their good looks washing away a lot of the brutality.
That is not anything that longtime lovers of the French duo haven’t heard via now, particularly on such liked opuses as Écailles De Lune and Les Voyages De L’âme, but Alcest end up that they are able to nonetheless wield the similar cues to tearjerking impact. Midpoint Flamme Jumelle commences with comfortable however bouncy guitar after which builds, with laidback percussion and candy making a song slotted on best.
The only-two punch of Réminiscence and L’Enfant De Los angeles Lune impulsively follows and expresses the entire breadth of the blackgaze sound, as the previous’s piano-centric interlude is contrasted with a seven-minute dynamo, composed similarly of emotion and blastbeats.
It might be simple to chastise Alcest for opting for the protected possibility on album quantity seven, returning to well-trodden territory after Religious Intuition darted down some legitimately new avenues. However the reality stays: this band’s signature taste nonetheless plucks heartstrings. Alcest are blackgaze’s undisputed masters, regardless of how some distance they now and again run, and right here they’ve once more confirmed why.
Les Chants De L’Aurore is out June 21 by means of Nuclear Blast.
