Conor Fynes
'Autre Temps' - Alcest (Single)
Last year, I didn't make an effort to hide my love and appreciation for Alcest and their then-newly released album 'Ecailles De Lune'. In fact, it may damn well have been my favourite album of that year, and still captivates me whenever I put it on. With this precedent, it comes as no surprise that I jumped to hear Alcest's newest material, even if it was only a peak of what will come a month from now. 'Autre Temps' is the single from Alcest's third album 'Les Voyages De L'Âme', to be released at the front of 2012. Put simply, if you have been a fan of Alcest's work in the past, there will be little reason to dislike this.
While I have no doubt that this song will sound better within the context of an album, I might say that I am a little disappointed with what I'm hearing, if even only because it is nothing new. Alcest has a distinct sound to them, but it would have been nice to hear even a slight development in the sound, and that's not something I am noticing, even after several intent listens to the song. 'Autre Temps' is a very dreamy track, inviting the listener in with a flurry of clean guitars, and in a build up that I could virtually predict from the first listen, it increases its intensity until a chorus where Neige's soft vocals soar over lightly distorted guitars and plenty of ambient effects. Although Alcest are commonly labelled as a black metal band, 'Autre Temps' has no signs of anything grim or frostbitten, or even much in the way of 'metal', on that note. Instead, the track flows like something out of a romantic dream. It is lovely to hear, and pleasant to the ear, but it ultimately fails to pierce my soul the way that 'Ecailles De Lune' does. 'Autres Temps' does not indicate to me that 'Les Voyages De L'Âme' will be any big surprise to me or any other of this band's fans, but I am not discouraged from diving into the full journey the moment it is available to me.