Gig Reviews
Cult Leader
Stengade, Copenhagen, DEN - 15/4
Album Reviews
Alcest
Previous Nextauthor EW date 21/04/10
On the evening of 7th April I was invited to the London stop of The Vision Bleak's European tour in support of their new album "Set Sail to Mystery", a tour which had the glorious 'shoegaze' black metallers Alcest in tow for the duration following their release of "Écailles De Lune". With the opportunity to interview Neige of Alcest presented to me I could hardly say no after how much I enjoyed the aforementioned album, and thus I present you the results below.
A live review of the whole show I'm afraid is not possible: the painfully slow entrance into the venue guaranteed my missing of Fen, attention was diverted away from proceedings during Fjoergyn's set and my interview was conducted during the bulk of The Vision Bleak's performance. Alcest however, provided a show worth paying attention to. As it later transpired by the reduced numbers remaining for TVB's headlining set, Alcest were THE draw for the greater majority of London's crowd, a testimony to the esteem with which the band's releases thus far are held. Alcest's music is utterly captivating on record, dreamy and trance-like for prolonged periods only broken up by the occasional jousting of black metal riffs and shrieks to remind us from where they came, feelings that were very much in evidence during this performance. I had prior been worried about how audible the variation in vocals would be in a venue like the Purple Turtle, a feature considerably more important in Alcests' work than most other metal bands, but within a couple of songs we were treated to a collection of tracks that had evidently translated well from the recorded format to the stage. As I later found out in the interview, the inexperience of this band on the stage at this point was evident in the reserved nature in which the whole band performed and interacted with the crowd, often looking as if they had more energy to give if only they knew the means with which to do so. Naturally this will come with time as no band, however artistic the music may be, are going to be the consummate live act on only show no.6, but Alcest showed from this enjoyable performance that those levels will be within their grasp, something that should come as no surprise with a collection of songs like theirs to perform. [7]
And so, shortly after the conclusion of their first ever UK show I sat down with band leader Neige to put my questions to him. Please note: I have tried to transcribe as accurately as possible, but with Neige's strong French accent, some considerable background noise, and my amateur dictaphone it has been difficult to get down everything discussed!
RF.net: Were you happy with the turnout tonight?
Neige: Yes the audience was excited. I’ve never played with a metal band in England so I didn’t know what to expect, so it was really really good.
RF.net: So it was more of a personal pressure than anything from the label or outside influences?
Neige: Ah no the label gave me no pressure, it was just me as an artist wanting to do the best songs and give a good album y’know as this was most important to me.
RF.net: So do you think the title fits your music?
Neige: Certainly not.
RF.net: I’m personally new to this 'shoegaze' sound but would you regard Alcest therefore as a BM band, or somewhat existing within their own space?
Neige: I don't care too much about all this y'know; I'm listening to my music that I like but in making Alcest I always try to make the purist sounds I can; the songs that fit most with my inspirations and for me it has nothing to do with black metal. I can understand when people say it is 'metal' as it has electric guitars and a few blastbeats, but who says that is always metal? Other forms of music have those too.
RF.net: Is this Alcest’s first full proper tour?
Neige: Yes! This is our sixth show.
RF.net: Ah, didn't know you were so new! Do you see the band doing more shows in the future?
Neige: Yes, for sure. I want to play more now that we have started.
[Live bassist Fursy comes and sits down to join the chat].
RF.net: I believe this is evidenced as the album cover is brilliant, very beautiful and different to the norm…
Fursy: I made it!
RF.net: Ha, I didn’t know, congratulations on that!
RF.net: Your fragile and delicate vocals covering much of "Écailles De Lune" are in contrast to what is usually heard in metal; BM relies on demonic shrieking and metal in general vocals of strength and power. Were you consciously aware of this divergence from the norm when slowly creating Alcest?
Neige: I wanted to express a special feeling within me with these vocals. One of the most important aspects with Alcest is I am singing clean over melodic riffs as it is just something I feel I should do instead of going with what might be expected from them.
RF.net: Has there been any negative feedback with regards how clean the vocals are for the majority of the records or do you feel that’s what people enjoy about the music?
Neige: This is the element surprising people the most. Many metal bands are singing clean but perhaps its more the riffs that are heavier, but I don’t think people are surprised on "Écailles De Lune" like they were on the first album.
Fursy: I think people have been asking for it more since the first record, as when we are playing live the harsh vocal songs people are happy but its also a way to express what we want as well in the songs.
RF.net: It’s very personal topics I take it then…
Neige: Very personal, but seeing as I can’t share with it people in real life I am writing music about it to get it across.