Lantlôs
Agape

Perhaps it was expected to anticipate yet another "blackgaze" release from the talented duo Herbst/Neige, but fortunately, "Agape" will catch everyone by surprise. Let’s be clear: personally, I love ".neon" and consider it one of the highest peaks achieved in the post-black field; yet another album inspired by the same sounds would have resulted, as usual, in a pleasant listening experience but fundamentally stagnant and conventional (and the entire subgenre, even just a few years after its birth, is becoming just that). Herbst is a great artist and chose not to rest on his laurels, continuing his path autonomously, finally free from trends and the seed of Alcestian music. And so the so-called "post-black" takes a step back, an elegant sidestep, and two strides forward. Post-post-black, indeed.

"Agape" is Herbst's most intimate and personal album, and you can feel it: it defies labels, requires patience and empathy, communicates with its mysterious music, resonates with its torn words and even with its silences and voids. It is cryptic, minimal, dark, expressionist, unsettling, loose, and far too short in its 35 minutes. But a few more attentive listens will serve to realize that, deep down, in those fragile, elusive, cramped 35 minutes, Herbst wanted to express everything he felt needed to be said, no more, no less. Everything else is just peripheral musings with which I genuinely have no intention of boring you in this review; it's pure incommunicability. But, if these few simple lines weren't enough for you and you truly want to know something deeper about "Agape", I assure you that a look at its wonderful cover is worth more than any verbose and detailed analysis.