Alcest
Écailles de Lune

Three years have already passed since the release of the perfect "Souvenirs D'Un Autre Monde". It seemed like yesterday when this alien record, filled with an innovation brimming with melancholic, fairytale-like, and ancestral melodies, enveloped my restless soul for the first time, making it dive into a surreal world, thus transporting it to a universe wrapped in the utmost metaphysics.

"Souvenirs" was a true revolution in French black metal, but in the end, let's be honest: even worldwide! Before then, no one had ever dared to blend the most unhealthy, raw, and blasphemous genre par excellence with melodic lines that encapsulated the purest of melancholies and nostalgias. Yet, the great Neige succeeded, triumphing over the decadence that had been enveloping the genre in recent years. "Souvenirs" could therefore be defined as a "hurricane" of fresh air for the souls and hearts of the most sensitive and tormented black metal listeners.

Three years later, the second work by Alcest arrives like a bolt from the blue: "Écailles de Lune".

The album presents itself as an evolution, but at the same time a regression, compared to the famous "Souvenirs". During the 40 minutes of the album, you can notice a sort of fusion between "Souvenirs" and the first EP "Les Secrets", which was characterized by a more "blackened" and dark style. There are multiple references to black metal in "Écailles de Lune", a factor that doesn’t diminish the music's quality but rather elevates it, making it more dynamic, therefore rendering the album a more versatile and less flat work compared to the previous album.

The album immediately opens with the title track, which, divided into two parts, covers roughly the first half of the album, and can be defined as a summary of the styles explored by Neige in the work in question. The first part is characterized by a style that mostly resembles the previous "Souvenirs D'Un Autre Monde" with its dreamy melodies and hypnotizing guitar arpeggios; the second part, instead, begins with a black metal outburst covered by Neige's scream vocal, then retreats into the classic melancholy signature of Alcest.

The following "Parcées de Lumière" continues along the same line as the title track but adds a darker and more aggressive touch, thanks to the ever-present piercing scream of Neige. Other noteworthy songs are the last two "Solar Song" and "Sur l'Ocèan Couleur de Fer", which end this fantastic dream called "Écailles de Lune" and unfortunately bring our minds back to the real world.

Summing up, the album does not present many innovations compared to the previous one. Neige seems to want to draw from past experiences and musical styles, then blend them together and deliver a very dynamic work, capable of making the listener experience numerous emotions, even contrasting ones. It can therefore be affirmed that compared to Souvenirs, "Écailles de Lune" is a work that explores the light and shadow of human emotions, capable of transporting us into a world first innocent and bright; then dark and depressive.

Congratulations therefore to Neige who once again succeeded in the feat of producing a qualitatively excellent and extremely exciting album at the same time, which will highly satisfy the numerous fans of the band and beyond.

My final rating is: 8