LIVE REVIEW: Alcest @ The Garage, Glasgow

It’s been a frustrating seven years since post-rock black metallers ALCEST touched down live in Glasgow. Created by Neige, the initially one-man band has bitterly divided the black metal scene since their EP and debut albums were unveiled to the world back in the mid 2000s. Their wild daring to combine the much maligned shoegaze and post-rock with underground black metal was considered sacrilege by purists. This was actually the start of the successful microgenre frequently termed blackgaze, now applied to countless musicians that it’s almost easy to forget how groundbreaking ALCEST was at the time.

Another act infusing post-rock with an unlikely extreme music genre is the UK’s own SVALBARD. They’ve been ascending rapidly in the underground since their formation in 2011. It’s surprising that they’re supporting ALCEST rather than pursuing a successful headlining jaunt of their own, especially since they were special guests to another unorthodox black metal band, ENSLAVED, across the UK earlier this year. This isn’t your run-off-the-mill quirky two-genre hybridisation though; their music promotes crust punk, nu-metal, shoegaze, metal and metalcore.

The result is an authentically emotively charged output that compliments their contemporary lyrical themes of feminism, mental health, animal rights and anti-capitalism, another reason so many feel connected to their music. Tonight, the Bristolians captivate the crowd with their earnest tunes oscillating between the supportive to the strained. The multi-facted nature of the music maintains the interest in their set and given the voluminous audience reaction, they’ve won over many new converts tonight. A particular highlight is when frontwoman Serena Cherry requests the light technician not to blast red light at the stage as she’s colour-blind and “couldn’t see a fucking thing.” Thankfully, the venue obeyed her commands immediately.

Rating 8/10

Few artists of this size bother with any kind of stage set-up, let alone an artful one that headliners ALCEST have set up. A grand full moon flanked by two golden heron statues is the landscape for the Frenchmen’s performance. The show starts with the uplifting Komorebi from new album Les Chants De L’Aurore. The title of this song is a Japanese word with no single English word equivalent. It’s roughly translates to ‘sunlight leaking through trees’, and this is a perfect descriptor for the headliners’ oneiric music qualities. The audience is bathed in nostalgic, romantic and ethereal blackgaze.

So much of this sub-genre has been shamelessly plucked from ALCEST‘s back catalogue, but there’s something so bold and sincere in this music that makes it evident this is the source of this sound. Compounding to this aural longing for the past is the fact that Les Chants De L’Aurore is a departure from the band’s last couple of albums. While the previous efforts were more aggressive and scathing, this freshest observation marks a return to ALCEST‘s earlier, more uplifting material, perhaps the antidote to such mind-frying times.

The audience response would support this assertion. As the likes of L’Envol, Améthyste and Flamme Jumelle bathe The Garage in dreamy melodies, the fans appear emotionally plugged into the music on a personal level. Expressions are captivated, concentrated and hypnotised; you’re whisked away to a past realm where life was simpler and optimistic. Music with a very particular atmosphere like this can sacrifice plenty of its feeling being performed in a crowded room of sweaty, tipsy bodies, but ALCEST commendably keep most of their music’s emotions in tact. Their splicing of expansive post-rock, bleary-eyed shoegaze and forlorn subtle black metal is so captivating and enthralling. The only criticism that can be levelled at this is perhaps frontman Niege‘s singing voice lacks the power and professionalism that the music exhibits. But this doesn’t detract too much from divine selections from throughout their repertoire, including Protection, Sapphire and Écailles De Lune Part II.

Niege comes across as as a respectful introvert, politely thanking the audience in the crowd an talking quietly enough that the audience chatter at the back of the venue impedes on what he says. The band’s stage presence is active but not hyper-energetic, matching the spirit of their music, and live bassist Fursy Teyssier is frequently beautifully silhouetted by the luminous moon.

There’s also a stirring light show that gorgeously matches the music’s sensibilities. Following Oiseaux De Proie, the band suddenly makes their exit, so of course an encore lies in wait. This is supplied by one of ALCEST‘s most popular paeans L’Autre Temps, followed by newer ode L’Adieu, well-titled to wrap up the night. This performance shimmered with grace, sophistication, and the splendour of loss, not a common sight at all.

Rating: 9/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Glasgow from Duncan McCall here: 

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