February 19, 2010

Reviewer: Matt

I sort of cringe when one of “these” albums are released, the ones that lead to endless forum bickering.  The debate over Alcest has centered on such fascinating and pertinent topics as whether black metal owns a monopoly on the tremolo riff or whether Neige in fact ever heard My Bloody Valentine.  The new debates will presumably examine whether Écailles De Lune will be featured on the soundtrack of the next Twilight movie, of the Lords of Chaos film, or of both.  As is the case with “these” albums, the amount of hype and anti-hype generated is grossly out of proportion to the importance of the album, as Écailles De Lune is neither spellbinding and groundbreaking nor nauseating and embarrassing.

I spun the shit out of Le Secret, and later I went back and found the Tristesse Hivernale demo a pretty good take on the Celestia and Mortifera school of French black metal.  However lo-fi the production was on that demo, Alcest has always been melodramatic, and when Neige stripped away the surface metal aesthetic for 2007’s Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde I lost most of my interest in this project.  I guess I signed up for this review in the misguided hope that Neige screaming again in an Alcest album meant I would enjoy it like I used to.  Most of the album though has more in common with the last Sunny Day Real Estate album than anything classifiable as “metal”; it’s clever marketing of Neige’s metalhead image and credentials that lands it in our inbox quicker than in Pitchfork’s.  .

The main weakness of Écailles De Lune is that it has no ambition to be anything other than just another indie rock album.  And like most indie rock, Écailles De Lune is amazing in its ability to be unspectacular despite some good ideas and obvious abundant musical talent. 

There are plenty of good moments, but the songwriting can’t sustain interest beyond these fleeting moments.  The pseudo-black-metal section at leading off “Écailles De Lune (part II)” effectively captures the post-rock sound Wolves in the Throne Room have been clamoring to find for their last two albums.  The final track “Sur L'Océan Couleur De Fer” is beautiful and haunting in its somber simplicity.  But most of the time its obvious that the songs lack a conceptual center or thematic momentum and are, much like older Opeth, a stew of disconnected ideas. Alternatingly predictable (“Écailles De Lune (part I)”, it turns out, follows the exact rhythmic progression as “Printemps Émeraude” from Souvenirs) and random (“Écailles De Lune (part II)” doesn’t even bother with transitions; it abruptly halts for no particular reason and resumes with a section bearing no resemblance to that which preceded it), Alcest’s biggest flaw is the overreliance on contrast and aesthetics to create a false sense of dramatic import. 

Ultimately Alcest can’t offer more than a broad manipulation of unspecific emotions and articulate something of greater significance.  The sugar-coated melodies, pedestrian pop arrangements, and sophomoric themes of nostalgia and escapism are sure to appeal to very few fans of good, abrasive metal, and for those with broader tolerance the songwriting falls well short of compelling.  When I listen to metal I want something more dangerous than long hair and black clothes.

Release Date: March 29th, 2010
Label: Prophecy Productions

TRACK LISTING

1.  Écailles De Lune (part I)
2.  Écailles De Lune (part II)
3.  Percées De Lumière
4.  Abysses
5.  Solar Song
6.  Sur L'Océan Couleur De Fer

Total playing time:  41:47

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Alcest - Écailles de lune