Ok, so like most people it would seem i was a little worried about working the black metal elements into this record after the sheer quality of the previous record where all trace of black metal was ignored for more powerful shoegaze and at times quite post-rock esque ambient passages. To top Souvenirs, for me, this record would have to have been an absolute masterpiece as I have played the hell out of that over the last year or so to where that short record, in terms of number of tracks, still managed to get Alcest in my top 15 on Last.FM.
I'm playing the new record over and over again. It finishes and I start it again. Probably 75-80% of it sounds like a very natural progression and almost a follow up to Souvenirs and the heavier, aggressive black metal passages are done very well. The tracks just seem to bleed in and out of these two themes very naturally.
I still don't know if I prefer this one to Souvenirs but whereas a number of members here are comfortable enough to rule this out completely, sometimes while listening I feel this album could even be a step up and hopefully lead to even better things.
If there were a higher option than excellent in this poll, i'd choose that.
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