Alcest
| Alcest | |
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Alcest performing live at Party.San Metal Open Air in 2013. From left to right: Indria, Neige, Zero
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Labels |
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| Associated acts |
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| Website | alcest-music |
| Members |
Neige Winterhalter |
| Past members |
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Alcest is a French rock band from Bagnols-sur-Cèze, founded and led by Neige (Stéphane Paut). It began in 2000 as a black metal solo project by Neige, soon a trio, but following the release of their first demo in 2001, band members Aegnor and Argoth left the band, leaving Neige as the sole member. In 2009 drummer Winterhalter from Les Discrets (and formerly Peste Noire) joined Alcest's studio line-up, after eight years with Neige as the sole full-time member. Since its creation, Alcest has released five studio albums and a number of EPs and split releases. Their fourth album, 2014's Shelter, marked a dramatic shift towards a distinctly shoegaze sound, however their latest album Kodama marks a return to their earlier blackgaze sound. The band are widely credited with pioneering the Blackgaze/Post-Black Metal genre, particularly through their EP Le Secret released in 2005.
Alcest was formed as a solo project by Neige in 2000. Soon after, the band became a three-piece black metal outfit, consisting of Neige on vocals, rhythm/acoustic guitar, and drums, Argoth on bass, and Aegnor (now known as La sale Famine de Valfunde. Famine used Neige as a drummer and rhythm guitarist in the early years of Peste Noire and Neige even wrote a song, "La Césarienne", for Peste Noire ) on lead guitar.
In 2001, the band released a 4-track demo tape entitled Tristesse Hivernale on Drakkar Productions in which Famine wrote the main riff of the song "La Forêt de Cristal". Not long after the demo was released, the band once again became a one-man entity, with Neige taking Alcest in a more personal direction. Neige, having originally formed Alcest as an outlet to create cold and raw black metal, moved away from the minimalist approach with the follow-up to Tristesse Hivernale, entitled Le Secret. This EP, released in May 2005, is an introduction of sorts to the new concept behind the reformed Alcest.
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