The French Alcest have presented 'Les Chants de l'Aurore', their most recent album and confirmation of why they are one of the most great and interesting from the entire European scene and an obligatory reference when talking about French metal.
Its leader, Stéphane 'Neige' Paut, spoke with us exclusively about this new work, his motivations to continue creating and the originality of the French scene compared to other aspects.
'Les Chants de l’Aurore' is your first album in five years, what was the creative motivation that prompted you to make this new album?
It took us a long time mainly because of the COVID pandemic. We were all forced to stay at home and honestly, it is difficult to receive adequate inspiration in those conditions. Even in my case where I can say that music comes from within me, I also need external elements to create, like meeting new people or going to the forest.
Fortunately, the moment came when I realized that I wanted to return to the themes I talked about in the first Alcest albums and describe this other world that I was in contact with when I was a child. I am not a person who likes religion, but I am a person who lives his own notion of spirituality and I believe that we are here to experience but that we all come from another place, far from here and that our real home is somewhere else. And I believe that we return to Earth many times in order to mature as souls and improve. Those are the themes that I played on the first albums and I feel that it is a very positive perspective, because it means that death does not exist and we will be reincarnated again.
The last two albums, Kodama and Spiritual Instict, had a much more aggressive, darker tone and it was good, because I was going through a stage in my life where they were the emotions that I needed to express, with a little more anger. But now, with the new album I thought it was the right time to return to the original Alcest concept.
You touched on a very interesting topic, because it is precisely that positive vibe that emanates from Alcest's music, which has repeatedly generated criticism and rejection within the more conventional metal scene.
I'm aware that some people don't like the fact that Alcest is such a positive band and that our music has that part of fragility. I would say we have a more feminine approach. At the end of the day, I believe that all human beings have that duality, masculine and feminine energy; but at the same time within the metal scene everyone tries to pretend to be tough guys, warriors, demons, all that and it's not my thing, it's not the type of aesthetic I'm looking for for Alcest. I know that some people don't like it but I don't care, because this is what I want to do.
Alcest is a very demanding band in terms of the quality of their songs. You are someone very perfectionist. How complicated does it become to continue creating music without dropping the bar?
Very good question. Yes, yes I am very perfectionist. The more time passes and the more albums I make, the more perfectionist I become because to be honest I'm afraid of losing inspiration and that people will think “meh, it's good but it's the same as the other albums.” I'm always trying to move forward, to improve myself because it's very common for a band to release two very good albums and then they start to be less and less interesting. This is something that scares me, because I want to continue creating music that continues to be interesting and inspiring; I've gotten to the point where I think I'm going to drive everyone around me crazy by pushing them to the limit and asking for modifications.
When we do the final mix of an album, I always pay too much attention to the details, the arrangements, the sound in general and I know that many times I am a complicated person to work with, but in the end I think that the results bring us quite a few benefits. and an example is the comments we received with the first two singles we published from this new album; People seem to be receiving them well so I guess I was right to focus on perfection.
Alcest sounds like Alcest and I mean that as a compliment. These days it's difficult to find a project that sounds original and authentic...
Yeah! There are many bands today trying to copy others. They say “oh, I wish I sounded like Darkthrone or Behemoth.” From my point of view, why do I want to listen to a watered down version of a band that already exists? Has no sense. That's why from the beginning, I tried to have as little inspiration from other bands as possible and I prefer to get that inspiration from other places, like a painting or nature itself that give me my own vision of life.
For me, selling out doesn't mean becoming more commercial or making a more accessible album. For me, being a sellout is trying to copy others, which is exactly what I don't want to do. Alcest's music may be a bit strange, to the point that many don't know how to classify it. We are not black metal, we are not shoegaze, nor are we post-rock. That is a good and bad thing at the same time, because at festivals we never fit in with the rest of the bands and it is also very difficult to find other bands to go on tour with because it would be strange to be with a black metal band, but we are also too metalheads for a shoegaze band. It is very difficult.
I think all of this makes our fans better appreciate that we are what we are. Alcest is Alcest, we are not a copy of anyone.
And on this note, do you think metal has reached a comfort zone where no one is trying to do something really original?
Don't know. I honestly don't listen to much of what's new coming out on the scene, although I try to stay up to date.
I think it's still an interesting kind of music, very varied, very diverse, with many subgenres. I think it continues to have a great future, but sometimes I wish bands would try to explore emotions more than styles themselves.
In metal, they always try to be the heaviest, the most evil and I would like to hear that they let themselves be seen a little more vulnerable, because people have so many different emotions and many of them have a place within metal, not just negative emotions.
Speaking of metal festivals, I return to a topic you touched on as it is increasingly common to see projects that are outside the common metal spectrum, such as Alcest, Poppy, Eivør and more…
It's right! And I think he's great. It is a reflection that musicians are trying other things.
For example, in France we have a quite interesting scene, but in the past it went somewhat unnoticed. Before, it was very difficult for a French band to come out and be recognized in the world because everything revolved around bands from the United States and Scandinavia; However, that caused very unique bands to develop in France like Igorrr, to give an example.
Bands like Igorrr or Alcest are difficult to classify because they focused a lot on creating their own sound. Another clear example is Gojira, of course. They play very heavy music, but their message is generally very positive; They talk about ecology and many other different topics that are just being on a battlefield like many other bands in the genre do.
And yes, it's very nice to see such diverse bands at festivals.
So you think that the French scene is a separate topic.
Of course. Leaving aside Alcest, or Gojira, you can see a band like Deathspell Omega within the black metal scene. You listen to their albums and you will notice that their sound is something very different from what you can find in the Norwegian black metal wave. They have an approach that is much more in line with jazz. I hardly listen to them because their music is very strong and I have the firm belief that the listener has to be as strong as the music they listen to to really understand it and I don't think I have the ability to listen to an entire album of theirs.
But yes, what I like most about the scene in France is that we don't try to copy the style of others, everyone does their own things and I personally hope that with Alcest I can push the limits beyond metal.
France has become an epicenter of world metal not only because of the quality of its bands, but they also have the most important festival of all, Hellfest.
Yes of course! Before, metal did not appear in the media. Really, nothing. Here, metal had a very bad reputation and a very worn-out image, something very different from what was happening in Finland, where you see metal bands everywhere, on the streets, on the radio. It's too much, it gets to the point where every aspect of rebellion is eliminated when it's so accepted and mainstream. But that's another topic [laughs]
Since we have Hellfest in France, metal has become a topic to talk about. The media is interested in covering the festival. It was crazy, how a band like Gojira that plays in stadiums all over the planet, were totally ignored by the local media. The truth is I can't explain why that happens, if they are a great band that represents the music and culture of France. So we still have a lot to do in the country but of course Hellfest has helped a lot. I don't know if it's the biggest festival in the world [or maybe it's Wacken yet?]. Their organization treats all bands very well and also includes artists from other genres such as Chelsea Wolfe, post-punk bands. They even have a stage for each style of music. There is the black metal scene, the stoner scene, the hard rock scene. It's great. I don't know if you've ever been to Hellfest, but it really is an amazing event.
I know you were in Mexico last year, do you plan to return with the 'Les Chants de l'Aurore' tour?
Of course, because we love going to Mexico. The last tour we did in Latin America was the best of all. The first time we went to Mexico [I don't know if you went, it was quite a while ago], we played in a small cafe with just a few hundred people and now that we're back, we already had a couple thousand people watching us. It is wonderful to see how the number of fans we have there and in other countries like Brazil has grown. Seriously, our last tour was totally crazy. Everyone dancing, singing, shouting, crying. I want to return as soon as possible.
