[Tsunami]

Now listening to Alcest - "Oiseaux de proie" (translates as "birds of prey")


Alcest are a French band whose sound can best be described as a very heavy form of shoegaze. Because of harsh metal influences, especially in their early work, the term "blackgaze" (taken from black metal + shoegaze) was created by music journalists to describe their sound. I'm not sure if the band ever embraced that tag or used it themselves. They did say explicitly that they are NOT a black metal band as their music is far less dark and sombre than black metal in their own opinion.

That said, the screams in "Oiseaux de proie" are amongst the darkest and heaviest screams I've heard. I can imagine it'd turn off many people ; as a metal fan though, I find it very appealing, especially because of when they're used. The screams are used only in the part screaming despair lyrically, so it just fits.

Their most famous work to date is probably still "Souvenirs d'un autre monde" (Souvenirs of a different world) ; vocalist Neige had childhood fantasies of a far away fairyland, an "otherworld". He wanted Alcests music to be a soundtrack to that dreamworld. Indeed, some of their music sounds like the soundtrack to a dream.