Les Chants de l'aurore
Les Chants de l'Aurore is the seventh studio album by French post-black metal band Alcest, released on 21 June 2024 by Nuclear Blast. The album was supported by the singles "L'Envol" and "Flamme Jumelle". The album received generally positive reviews from critics, and debuted at number 77 in France.
Background and singles
Les Chants de l'Aurore is Alcest's second with Nuclear Blast, after their 2019 album Spiritual Instinct. Before writing the album, Neige, Alcest's primary songwriter, suffered from writer's block during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. After a year, he broke out of it and wrote "L'Envol", which later became the lead single. Neige stated that he intentionally tried to emulate the lighter sound of Alcest's earlier albums, as he tended "to be quite melancholic in my daily life, so I to make this kind of beautiful music to cheer myself up". Les Chants de l'Aurore was recorded at Neige's home instead of a studio. "L'Envol" was released as the lead single from Les Chants de l'Aurore on 23 February 2024. "Flamme Jumelle" followed on 18 April 2024, as the album's second single.Critical reception
Dom Lawson of Blabbermouth.net wrote that Les Chants de l'Aurore had "stunningly beautiful songs, performed with metal-friendly fire and intensity, but fully committed to the warmth of a new and positive dawn". Marko Djurdić wrote in Exclaim! that "while it still falls short of some of their most celebrated works, the album is gloriously cinematic, although never really surprising". Olly Thomas stated in a review for Kerrang! that the album "often feels like something of a journey, and if the specific destination is ambiguous, the direction is very much into the light". Matt Mills wrote in Metal Hammer that while the album went through "well trodden territory… signature style still plucks heartstrings". Max Heilman criticized the album's mixing in a MetalSucks review, but stated that "Les Chants de l’Aurore remains plenty of examples of bonafide Alcest awesomeness".Personnel
According to AllMusic:Alcest
- Neige – vocals, guitar, bass, synthesizer, piano, glockenspiel, mixing, recording, arrangements
- Winterhalter – drums, percussion, sound engineering, recording
- Elise Aranguren – additional vocals
- Chris Edrich – mixing
- Førtifem – layout
- Gregory Hoepffner – arrangements
- France Lafumat – additional vocals
- Gisli Gunnarsson – additional vocals, arrangements
- Mika Jussila – mastering
- Andy Julia – photography
- – cover art
- Haruna Nakaie – additional vocals, viola de gamba, Japanese spoken word
- Margot Gentil – additional vocals
- Sacha Gentil – additional vocals
- Ai Matsui – Japanese translation on "L'Enfant de la Lune"