Emerging with black metal that represents aggressive, rebellious, and dark emotions, and blending it with the dreamy effects of shoegaze atmosphere to create the genre known as ‘blackgaze,’ the French duo Stéphane “Neige” Paut and Jean “Winterhalter” Deflandre, known as ALCEST, once again pioneer a revolution in the genre with their seventh studio album “Les chants de l’aurore.”

Those who closely follow the band’s sound, which never repeats itself, know this well. Their debut studio album, “Souvenirs d’un autre monde,” introduced the world to blackgaze, blending clean vocals, acoustic arpeggios, accompanying distorted guitars, non-repetitive song structures, and melancholy feelings with a sense of being in a dream. The band raised expectations even higher with “Écailles de lune,” delving into their darkest and most dreamy sounds, gifting fans an innovative album with aggressive screams and blast beats.

Just before the release of this album, Neige and Winterhalter, part of a darker project band Amesoeurs, shook the scene with their 2009 album “Amesoeurs” and then vanished. Following this, the band seemed to close the chapter on darkness with “Les voyages de l’âme,” achieving a sound that seemed to come from “another world.” Then, with the highly criticized, lightest, and most positive summer album “Shelter,” they once again proved how innovative and pioneering they could be.

Subsequently, with two albums that would win back their old fans, they took their sound a step further and more modern, reaching the peak of their career: “Kodama” and “Spiritual Instinct.” The band’s performance on March 30, 2017, in Istanbul during the “Kodama” tour was mesmerizing. Later, by chance, I had the opportunity to see them live at Luxembourg Kulturfabrik with Regarde les hommes tomber + Brutus + Scarred, experiencing the tempo changes and ups and downs of “Spiritual Instinct” live.

With their new release “Les chants de l’aurore” on the summer solstice, I can hear the sound of them reaching the pinnacle of their career. ALCEST, constantly revolutionizing from past to present, takes us on a 43-minute journey.

The album’s first track, “Komorebi,” refers to the beautiful moment when sunlight filters through the leaves of trees. Those who closely follow Neige know he is a fan of Japanese culture and has been learning Japanese for a long time. In recent years, this influence is seen in his choice of song titles. Is there another language that better defines the earthly feelings that seem ordinary yet feel “otherworldly” like the Japanese? I don’t think so. It’s not surprising that ALCEST’s music cannot be confined to words. From the moment the song begins, with accompanying synths and clean vocals, it takes you on a journey through the forest, as if you are in the midst of spring, with flowers blooming on the branches of trees and the sun warming you from within.

With “L’envol,” we are met with uplifting guitars, melodic hums, and Winterhalter’s characteristic drumming. This part so far has a taste reminiscent of “Souvenirs d’un autre monde.” Toward the end of the song, Neige’s screams come as a big surprise to fans. During the album’s first listening event, Neige mentioned that these screams are heartfelt and still hurt despite having done them for years.

Next up is the song that long-time fans have been listening to on loop… “Améthyste”… As a fan of the “Écailles de lune” era, this is probably my favorite song on the album. The song opens with a dark melody and aggressive drums, leading us to Neige’s angelic melodic and scream-mixed vocals in the chorus, singing “I felt every one of your pains intensely, and I saw my whole life slipping away, I saw my whole life again.” Then, shoegazy guitar tones give way to clean arpeggios, and we find ourselves lost in the deepest and most melancholy Neige screams ever recorded. When he screams “Gardent les âmes vagabondes,” the sincerity is palpable. The song’s outro, with melodic synths and rising tense guitars, might be the most beautiful closing part you can hear.

The fourth track, “Flamme Jumelle,” is one of the shoegaze/post-rock dominant songs on the album. When it was released as a single, I honestly thought the whole album would be like this, but I was wrong.

“Réminiscence” is a slow, captivating instrumental track of about 2:50 minutes, recorded with Neige’s grandmother’s piano.

And then: “L’enfant de la lune (月の子),” which I believe is named after Reiko Shimizu’s manga Moon Child, is the second strongest song on the album. It opens with a woman speaking in Japanese, leading us to a highly energetic, melodic, and blast-filled chorus, and the song continues this way for a while. The middle parts give a taste of Spiritual Instinct, followed by a tempo change that feels very similar to Leprous’s songwriting. At the end of the song, distorted guitars join this part, and dreamy effects close the song. The last few seconds, in particular, wink at the sound of Amesoeurs’ “Gas in Veins.” As you can see, it’s possible to feel a piece of the band’s old work in every song on this album. It’s not hard to predict that this album, appealing to all ALCEST eras, will be considered their peak album.

They say all good things must come to an end, and “l’Adieu,” meaning farewell, greets us as the last song. An outro similar to Havens from the “Les voyages de l’âme” album, and a closing. With this very melancholic song, what is the band saying goodbye to, you wonder? I think to ALCEST in 2024. This must be a sign that in their next album, they will once again shatter the ALCEST image in our minds and achieve a revolutionary work.

In summary, the album is filled with flashbacks to the old days, revolutionary in composition, containing countless synths and different effects, successfully blending them with both clean and harsh vocals, and reaching the most modern ALCEST sound that extraordinarily appeals to the senses. I eagerly await the “Les chants de l’Aurore Tour 2024,” where ALCEST will be accompanied by Svalbard and Doodseskader as opening acts.