After making a small stir in the Black Metal underground with their 2005 mini-CD, "Le Secret", ALCEST have left their origins in that scene far behind them. Their music manages to evoke a spring-like atmosphere full of beauty, intense joy and light, but also filled with yearning and nostalgia. It brings to mind memories of the innocence and bliss of a childhood long past as well as impressions of a fantastic fairyland of perfect harmony.

With his application of Slowdive and Yann Tiersen to Burzum, multi-instrumentalist Neige has created a musical concept for himself that is nothing less than revolutionary – and the actual realization of this concept on "Souvenirs d'un autre monde" has made for a peerless landmark. No other title would have done justice to this debut album, as ALCEST's songs really are souvenirs from another world. (read less)
Biography
Alcest is a French band created by Neige in early 2000. He began writing songs on his own but a few months afterwards Argoth (bass) and Famine (lead guitar) joined him and his solo project became a real band. "Tristesse Hivernale" Alcest's first demo which was composed by
Neige and Famine, was released in 2001 by Drakkar Productions. At the time, the band played cold and melodic black metal inspired by the mysterious and melancholic atmospheres of the wintry landscapes. Just
after the release of "Tristesse Hivernale" Alcest turned into a solo project again since Neige decided to change of direction and concept in order to explore more intimate themes.

Alcest is now Neige's testimony of the evanescent visions/memories he had as a child about a fantastic faraway world : a plane of existence bathed in a pearly light, beyond all terrestrial beauties, which could
perhaps be described as a sort of "intermediate stage" ; the soul would rest there between two earthly lives and would for some time be freed of the burden of incarnation. The first chapter of this journey
was "Le Secret" EP, which was released in 2005 by Drakkar Productions.
In 2007, Neige agreed to a contract with the German label Prophecy Productions and released Alcest's debut album "Souvenirs d'un autre monde" the same year. In 2010 the drummer Winterhalter joined the band, Alcest released their second full length "Ecailles De Lune" and
started to perform shows in Europe and U.S.A. with a complete live line-up.

All music/lyrics/artwork are deeply linked to Alcest's concept and aim at depicting that "place" and the ecstatic feelings one can experience there. This project is a real quest, a perpetual wandering through unknown regions, the hope of which is to shed some light on some
mysteries of this esoteric experience.