ALCEST

Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde

Profound Lore

7.5 / 10

Track listing:

01. Printemps émeraude
02. Souvenirs d'un autre monde
03. Les iris
04. Ciel errant
05. Sur l'autre rive je t'attendrai
06. Tir Nan Og

Are you ready for the sinister shrieks, razorblade guitars, and blasting mayhem of black metal devastation? Well, you need to go elsewhere then because "Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde" by France's ALCEST is not for you. The fact that the lone force behind ALCEST, a man called Neige, has black metal roots has virtually no relevance to the album. Fortunately, none of that should disappoint anyone, except those who cannot stomach ethereal winds, shoe gazing waves, and post-rock flourishes. Yes, "Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde" is one of Profound Lore's "out there" acts, at least in terms of its connection to metal. As for the metallic aspects of the disc, there ain't none.

But on to the heart of the matter. Whereas THE ANGELIC PROCESS' "Weighing Souls with Sand" derived its power from alush tones interwoven with drone and a MY BLOODY VALENTINE juxtaposition of the harsh and shimmering, ALCEST's "Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde" goes for more of a purely dreamy and atmospheric vibe. In the context of ALCEST, words like "drone" and "harsh" can be replaced with "sooth" and "float."

The light, gentle (at times near whispers) vocals (with French lyrics) work more as another instrument, albeit with melodic patterns. It is the combination of keyboards and acoustic and cleanly picked guitars (save for moments of somewhat heaver riffing on a song like "Printemps Emeraude") that translate into some lovely compositions that stop well short of boring, even if a great deal of arrangement diversity is not present. In fact, the sojourn is a mentally and emotionally comforting one, culminating in an especially moving keyboard-led melody on the album-closing "Tir Nan Og".

"Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde" is not for everyone, but for those with an open mind and/or a preference for smooth contours instead of jagged edges, the album will be a treat. Personally, and I'm no expert on the style, the disc is like a breath of fresh air during a relaxing walk along a nature trail. It may not be heavy rotation material, but "Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde" is certainly a quality affair.

Author:

Prev More Reviews Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).