From Alcest's Wikipedia page: "As a child, Neige had experiences of being in contact with a "far off country", which he generically refers to as "Fairy Land". Alcest serves as the musical adaptation of the memories from this "otherworld". Neige intends for Alcest to be a journey for the listener to this world through his memories." Alcest's music is also generally more positive than other black metal.
As a quick refresher, Punk entered black metal the same way it entered thrash, via Venom. Many black metal bands also picked it up from the german thrash scene, which coexisted very intimately with punk at the time. Funny that this track kind of separates it, as usually the punk genetics of black metal come to the fore when its at its thrashiest and doing its spin on the d-beat. You know, going all tu-pa-turu-pa-tu-pa-turu-pa on us. I quite like this band's sound, and actually kind of tie it to this channel, courtesy of someone in the replies who was kind of indignant at my suggestion that Ulver stumbled into blackgaze before it was a thing. But the connection is there, nonetheless, especially in the very soft vocals, something Ulver also used on their early days. The main difference is the sound, and this actually ties in to the ongoing conversation about black metal production and how integral it is. Alcest sound very velvet-y. Snuggly, even. Which is of course deliberate and part of why their sound works, they're a deconstruction of the genre, and a demonstration that how easily you can defang it of its harsher qualities just by giving it all a warmer tone. Even the blastbeats end up sounding kinda pleasant, and that strikes me as fascinating given that the bueprint doesn't really deviate all that much from some of its more panda faced eeeeveeel sounding cousins.
You could argue Punk entered black metal via Motorhead given that Venom were almost a Motorhead tribute band (basically the same style but with even rawer production and looser technical skills). .
@@jonathanhenderson9422 Yep. I chose Venom as more or less the cut off point because they're largely responsible for the more extreme forms of metal not only in sound but in aesthetics. Motorhead are incredibly influential, of course, but they were always a bit uncomfortable with being labeled metal. But all these labels are a bit arbitrary at the end of the day, obviously.
Literally the only times I ever comment on TH-cam is when I get the opportunity to tell you that you need to do yourself a favour and listen to Ecailles de Lune Pt. 2, the absolute peak of both Alcest and this genre. No luck yet, but this is the 3rd Alcest reaction I think so I'm hopeful.
That's interesting my personal favourite is Escailles de Lune Pt.1, followed by part 2 and Sur l'océan coulour de fer. So I think we need a reaction to the whole album 😉
Love the Alcest reactions, you should try Amesoeurs, an old project of Neige's which is almost quite punky inflienced in some regards but mostly blackgaze
Yeah, to me the soothing thing makes sense, especially with how their harsh vocals are mixed. I never felt like they were dark or aggressive. I get an overall meditative vibe that fits with the lyrics.
If you react to another Alcest track, I'd suggest Protection, and compare it with their instrumental version of the same song (they labelled it "acoustic version").
It's a soothing feeling to put into words what attracted me the most to this music - a writing structure very similar to a story. I recommend you Dordeduh - Vraci de nord (extended version) It's also a very spiritually themed band
Thanks for analysis! As for your expectations of soothing, chill instrumentals to these lyrics, cleans - Alcest has an album Shelter with much more light and calm melodies, kind of dreamy post rock/shoegaze
The whole album is amazing ! Thanks to react. I recomend the song Falling into nothing by Los males del mundo (Atmospheric Black Metal) from Argentina. Greetings !
I'm thinking about arranging this song for a totally different set of instruments and noticed that you do the same thing, arranging black metal tracks for piano. Do you have a resource for finding black metal sheet music/notation or do you transcribe by ear?
@@blackMetalPiano I'll look around for some sheet music first but I'll keep you in mind. I'm terrible at transposition so if I go that route I'll need all the help I can get 😅
If someone could get me the sheet music for this, traditional notation or tabs, I'd make an arrangement of this in a heartbeat! I'd love to put my own spin on this and see where I could take it.
Love Alcest, but I prefer the albums that came before this. Hard to put my finger on precisely what the difference is because this is ostensibly still blackgaze, but it does feel like it's pushing closer towards being pop-oriented in the vocals and punk-oriented in the guitars rather than being primarily about the sound/atmospheric, and that was I felt made them so special on the earlier albums. Still, I can't fault a band for changing as there's only so much a band could do with their original style anyway. This just doesn't give me quite the same transcendental feels. Not bad by any means, and if nothing else it probably serves as a better introduction for people due to the better/cleaner production and higher prevalence of clean vocals. The connective tissue of both black metal and thrash is Motorhead, then to Venom, and from Venom you get Bathory (from which all later black metal descends) and thrash.
It's certainly much less dreamy than the earlier stuff, feels a bit more moody & pensive. I personally don't mind the lessening use of harshes, my favourite Alcest album is probably still Souvenirs, which (correct me if I'm wrong) has none, and Neige's harshes have never been my jam. Honestly, they kind of lost me too so I didn't bother checking this one out, but I did really enjoy this track. May actually have to go have a full listen. It's less dreamy, but as a trade-off has more variety in it.
From Alcest's Wikipedia page: "As a child, Neige had experiences of being in contact with a "far off country", which he generically refers to as "Fairy Land". Alcest serves as the musical adaptation of the memories from this "otherworld". Neige intends for Alcest to be a journey for the listener to this world through his memories."
Alcest's music is also generally more positive than other black metal.
And he made it exactly as intended
As a quick refresher, Punk entered black metal the same way it entered thrash, via Venom. Many black metal bands also picked it up from the german thrash scene, which coexisted very intimately with punk at the time. Funny that this track kind of separates it, as usually the punk genetics of black metal come to the fore when its at its thrashiest and doing its spin on the d-beat. You know, going all tu-pa-turu-pa-tu-pa-turu-pa on us.
I quite like this band's sound, and actually kind of tie it to this channel, courtesy of someone in the replies who was kind of indignant at my suggestion that Ulver stumbled into blackgaze before it was a thing. But the connection is there, nonetheless, especially in the very soft vocals, something Ulver also used on their early days. The main difference is the sound, and this actually ties in to the ongoing conversation about black metal production and how integral it is. Alcest sound very velvet-y. Snuggly, even. Which is of course deliberate and part of why their sound works, they're a deconstruction of the genre, and a demonstration that how easily you can defang it of its harsher qualities just by giving it all a warmer tone. Even the blastbeats end up sounding kinda pleasant, and that strikes me as fascinating given that the bueprint doesn't really deviate all that much from some of its more panda faced eeeeveeel sounding cousins.
You could argue Punk entered black metal via Motorhead given that Venom were almost a Motorhead tribute band (basically the same style but with even rawer production and looser technical skills). .
@@jonathanhenderson9422 Yep. I chose Venom as more or less the cut off point because they're largely responsible for the more extreme forms of metal not only in sound but in aesthetics. Motorhead are incredibly influential, of course, but they were always a bit uncomfortable with being labeled metal. But all these labels are a bit arbitrary at the end of the day, obviously.
Literally the only times I ever comment on TH-cam is when I get the opportunity to tell you that you need to do yourself a favour and listen to Ecailles de Lune Pt. 2, the absolute peak of both Alcest and this genre. No luck yet, but this is the 3rd Alcest reaction I think so I'm hopeful.
That's interesting my personal favourite is Escailles de Lune Pt.1, followed by part 2 and Sur l'océan coulour de fer.
So I think we need a reaction to the whole album 😉
Love the Alcest reactions, you should try Amesoeurs, an old project of Neige's which is almost quite punky inflienced in some regards but mostly blackgaze
Would absolutely recommend Écailles De Lune by them, any song from album but especially the title track, both parts!
Alcest is awesome and this isn’t even one of my favorites by them. Seen them live too. Hoping for more in the future :)
Yeah, to me the soothing thing makes sense, especially with how their harsh vocals are mixed. I never felt like they were dark or aggressive. I get an overall meditative vibe that fits with the lyrics.
Nice, glad to see you're revisiting Alcest, an amazing band! Great analysis/review/reaction as always
that's very satisfying to hear here the metal bands that it's difficult to hear directly here in France where they're so few shared on broadcast
I think the example you were looking for at 27:00 was the Deafheaven - Dream House reaction, very nice track
I really liked this on a first listen. I'm not sure what it is, but I like the sound and the vibe.
If you react to another Alcest track, I'd suggest Protection, and compare it with their instrumental version of the same song (they labelled it "acoustic version").
It's a soothing feeling to put into words what attracted me the most to this music - a writing structure very similar to a story.
I recommend you Dordeduh - Vraci de nord (extended version)
It's also a very spiritually themed band
it would be cool to see what you think of drab majesty - ellipsis, out of sequence.
Thanks for analysis! As for your expectations of soothing, chill instrumentals to these lyrics, cleans - Alcest has an album Shelter with much more light and calm melodies, kind of dreamy post rock/shoegaze
Thank you, very informative video! How about a reaction to "Ocean Cloud" or "Neverland" by Marillion? :)
BEAUTIFUL.
The whole album is amazing ! Thanks to react. I recomend the song Falling into nothing by Los males del mundo (Atmospheric Black Metal) from Argentina. Greetings !
I'm thinking about arranging this song for a totally different set of instruments and noticed that you do the same thing, arranging black metal tracks for piano. Do you have a resource for finding black metal sheet music/notation or do you transcribe by ear?
@@CriticalReactions I do everything by ear, but there is probably some sheet music. If you want I can help you.
@@blackMetalPiano I'll look around for some sheet music first but I'll keep you in mind. I'm terrible at transposition so if I go that route I'll need all the help I can get 😅
When do we see Bryan's remake of this? (Bassoon guaranteed!)
If someone could get me the sheet music for this, traditional notation or tabs, I'd make an arrangement of this in a heartbeat! I'd love to put my own spin on this and see where I could take it.
@@CriticalReactions I'm not the man seeing to that. But I would certainly like to have a listen!
@@CriticalReactions Hey Bryan, in a few days I will email you a PDF transcription - or whatever format you prefer
@@metalzonereactions Dude that's awesome! Thanks a ton. PDF is perfect.
N/M
Love Alcest, but I prefer the albums that came before this. Hard to put my finger on precisely what the difference is because this is ostensibly still blackgaze, but it does feel like it's pushing closer towards being pop-oriented in the vocals and punk-oriented in the guitars rather than being primarily about the sound/atmospheric, and that was I felt made them so special on the earlier albums. Still, I can't fault a band for changing as there's only so much a band could do with their original style anyway. This just doesn't give me quite the same transcendental feels. Not bad by any means, and if nothing else it probably serves as a better introduction for people due to the better/cleaner production and higher prevalence of clean vocals.
The connective tissue of both black metal and thrash is Motorhead, then to Venom, and from Venom you get Bathory (from which all later black metal descends) and thrash.
It's certainly much less dreamy than the earlier stuff, feels a bit more moody & pensive. I personally don't mind the lessening use of harshes, my favourite Alcest album is probably still Souvenirs, which (correct me if I'm wrong) has none, and Neige's harshes have never been my jam.
Honestly, they kind of lost me too so I didn't bother checking this one out, but I did really enjoy this track. May actually have to go have a full listen. It's less dreamy, but as a trade-off has more variety in it.