I gave their latest one, Souvenirs d'un autre monde, a go a few weeks back and it reminded me strongly of later era Ulver.

Not half bad. I have The Secret on my comp somewhere but I've been jamming out Rwake all day and don't feel like stopping now

Alcest
 

Alcest was formed as a solo project by Neige in 2000. Soon after, the band became a three-piece black metal outfit, consisting of Neige on vocals, rhythm/acoustic guitar, and drums, Argoth on bass, and Aegnor (now known as La sale Famine de Valfunde. Famine used Neige as a session drummer and live rhythm guitarist in the early years of Peste Noire on lead guitar. In 2001, the band released a 4-track demo tape entitled Tristesse Hivernale on Drakkar Productions in which Famine wrote the main riff of the song "La Forêt de Cristal". Not long after the demo was released, the band once again became a one-man entity, with Neige taking Alcest in a more personal direction. Neige, having originally formed Alcest as an outlet to create cold and raw black metal, moved away from the minimalist approach with the follow-up to Tristesse Hivernale, entitled Le Secret. This EP, released in May 2005, is an introduction of sorts to the new concept behind the reformed Alcest. After having signed to Prophecy Productions in March 2007, Alcest's debut album Souvenirs d'un autre monde was released in early August of the same year, and drew comparisons with the likes of My Bloody Valentine and Jesu. In August 2007, Tristesse Hivernale was released by Northern Silence Productions in August 2007 as a split with French black metal band Angmar.
Alcest's second album, Écailles de Lune (Scales of the Moon), was released March 29, 2010. The band's third album, Les Voyages de L'Âme, was released on January 6, 2012.

Band concept

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 fantasy world. Neige intends for Alcest to be a journey for the listener to this world through his memories. This change in concept was first introduced on Le Secret. Souvenirs d'un autre monde will serve as a literal summation of the concept behind the band.



Alcest - Les Voyages De L'Âme - YouTube


Alcest - Tir Nan Og - YouTube


Alcest - Là Où Naissent Les Couleurs Nouvelles - YouTube

"Black Gaze". Beautiful stuff, this 2012 release will be difficult to top this year.

count me in as a fan

even if i don't really like the shoegaze elements all that much, but it works

I don't think it would be too difficult. Compared to Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde and Écailles de Lune there's little progression in this album. Les Voyages de L'Âme is a bit disappointing to be honest, it just sounds too safe to me. There's no real memorable moments either on this album, nothing like 'Tir na n'Og' or 'Écailles de Lune (Part II)' that really give the album life. While it's not bad it could be a lot better.

I disagree, it's their most cohesive release yet and has none of the holes that the older ones had in production and composing. This record is fantastic from start to finish.

I don't understand how you could say that there are no memorable moments on it when it features the best vocal melodies that they've ever written.

I agree Zero, nothing about Voyages grabbed me. It was nice, but I think it shows that Niege is a bit of a one-trick pony

It's my personal opinion that Alcest is at their best when they go nearly 50/50 with the black metal/shoegaze dynamic. To completely drop the black metal on the newest record and not really add anything new to the formula is more of a step backward to be honest. While the new album certainly isn't bad, it just leaves me thinking that Alcest have grown stale. Hopefully the new Les Discrets album coming out this year will be a step forward for the sound and not a jog-in-place or step back.

You hit the nail on the head there. I agree and I think that's what made Écailles de Lune so great, it was the most perfect mix of black metal and post-rock/shoegaze that anyone could ever attempt.

I'm looking forward to the new Les Discrets album and hopefully it won't be a disappointment. Coming after Les Voyages de L'Âme it's going to be a make-or-break album for this style of music.

Listening to their discography now. Boring.

Yes you are but what do think of Alcest?

I like the new one quite a bit. Souvenirs d'un autre monde is still probably my favorite and Écailles de Lune is really good because it added some black metal shrieking (did Souvenirs even have any of that?). I listened to Le Secret a long time ago and thought it was pretty dull for black metal. I see it's been re-issued, anybody heard it and think it's been improved?

Anyway, I think the new one is a nice balance between the two previous albums. Like the previous two, it grabbed me instantly and I've listened to it a lot in a short period of time.

As has been mentioned though, all three albums are really similar and I'm not sure I need any more Alcest from here on out.