AMS album of the week: Alcest – Shelter

Black metal has undoubtedly seen regeneration in recent years. Releases such as Deafheaven’s_ Sunbather _or Altar of Plagues’ Teethed Glory and Injury in 2013 were well received, provided you were looking for challenging music with power behind it. However, you’d be mistaken if it was purely “good black metal” that is suddenly hitting home with the hipsters, rather than just metalheads – really, it’s what these bands do on these albums that isn’t metal at all that grabbed people’s attention. Enter Alcest, who have been playing this game for years, merging the typical blast beats, high screams, tremolo guitars and proggy structures of black metal with a mystical dreamy atmosphere. And just as black metal had become cool, fans are left scratching their heads as Alcest abandon the very ship they left port on.

Shelter strips out the metal from Alcest’s original sound. This isn’t at all sudden, as the screams have been dying off consistently since Ecailles De Lune in 2010. On Shelter, clean guitars weave dream pop songs with walls of effects. The space left by the metal is now filled with a wider sound palette –pianos, guest vocals, choirs and heavily layered guitars, fitting well with frontman Neige’s ethereal voice. Many of these are present on the title track, probably the most representative song on the album, where choruses are a merge of vocal hooks, simple drumming and droning guitar.

Don’t assume that Shelter never feels heavy because of this style shift. Voix Sereines, begins with familiar vocal and clean guitar passages, and has a fantastic gradual build to its euphoric ending, where we do hear distortion guitars with the new post-rock sound. Délivrance does much the same, with even bolder choirs, strings and a final crescendo which ends with almost Godspeed-guitar drone.

It’s not all memorable, as some of the poppier songs are easily Alcest’s weakest efforts (such as Away, or Opale – unfortunately the single). The key in enjoying Shelter is in realising what really makes Alcest good. Behind all the noise, be it waves of reverb or bone splitting distortion, it’s the songwriting and atmosphere that has always been present making them worth listening to. It’s still the same gift on Shelter, it just not in the same wrapping paper as before. Disappointed it’s not black metal? Hush now, don’t worry – Agalloch and Wolves In The Throne Room will be saving the day this 2014.