Over 40 years of metal’s biological urge (and a hefty lack of restraint) has resulted in some incomprehensibly large catalogs. No one should have to listen to anywhere from 13 to 15 [Luca Turilli’s] Rhapsody [of Fire] albums just to get caught up for a new release. So each week (as required and/or able), we’re offering a selection of prime(r)(er) cuts to get you up to speed. Without further ado, welcome to…
“Alcest‘s medium has always been an exquisite, melancholy sense of beauty. The band’s mastermind, French musician Neige, has focused most of his work—first by himself, then in a duo with drummer Winterhalter—on accenting and channeling this beauty through various styles, all the while employing genre markers as mere means to an end. In the early 2000s, he looked towards coarse black metal illuminated by bright shoegaze flourishes. Then the style shifted. Shoegaze, post-rock, and pop-like elements began to take over, eclipsing the early black metal tendencies and amplifying the music’s candid affectiveness. Throughout these fluctuations, the firmament and soul of Alcest‘s music stayed largely the same. The band’s latest release, 2016’s fragile yet powerful Kodama, is a perfect example: an album both instantly recognizable yet stylistically loose. In anticipation of Spiritual Instinct, let’s immerse ourselves in Neige’s music.”
– Roquentin
- Le Secret, 2005
– “Le Secret” - Souvenirs d’un autre monde, 2007
– “Souvenirs d’un autre monde”
– “Sur l’autre rive je t’attendrai” - Écailles de lune, 2010
– “Écailles de lune – Part 2”
– “Sur l’océan couleur de fer” - Les voyages de l’âme, 2012
– “Autre temps”
– “Là où naissent les couleurs nouvelles”
– “Les voyages de l’âme” - Shelter, 2014
– “La nuit marche avec moi”
– “Délivrance” - Kodama, 2016
– “Kodama”
– “Oiseaux de proie”
Alcest‘s sixth album Spiritual Instinct will be released on October 25th worldwide via Nuclear Blast.
We’re all about equality at AMG Inc. Our legal department says we have to be, and it keeps the bowels of this place running smoothly. One person gets a playlist, then everyone wants a one, and soon there’s blood in the water cooler. So have it your way, animals. Everyone gets a playlist. An oh so brief playlist. Trust me, it’s for the best.
- Steel Druhm
– Black Sabbath – “Air Dance”
– Armored Saint – “Glory Hunter” - Dr. Wvrm
– Wilderun – “Far from Where Dreams Unfurl”
– The Great Old Ones – “Of Dementia” - Grymm
– Unleash the Archers – “Northwest Passage”
– Bolt Thrower – “Spearhead” - Kronos
– Plebian Grandstand – “Nice Days Are Weak”
– Basalte – “Ce que le corps doit au sol” - El Cuervo
– Threshold – “Hollow”
– Focus – “Focus II” - Mark Z.
– It Prevails – “Capture and Embrace”
– He Is Legend – “Everyone I Know Has Fangs” - L. Saunders
– Weeping Sores – “The Leech Called Shame”
– Car Bomb – “Hela” - Huck N Roll
– Palace in Thunderland – “The King of the Empty Aeon”
– Obsidian Tide – “The Harbinger and the Millennial Vengeance” - Master of Muppets
– None – “Bed the Cold Earth”
– Katatonia – “Dissolving Bonds” - TheKenWord
– Triosphere – “Steal Away the Light”
– Fvneral Fvkk – “Alone with the Cross” - Holdeneye
– Cage – “Kill the Devil”
– Kreator – “Satan Is Real” - Carcharodon
– Madder Mortem – “Vigil”
– Ahab – “Like Red Foam (The Great Storm)” - Emya
– Alcest – “Circe Poisoning the Sea”
– Aquilus – “Nihil”
