Alcest, Les Discrets, Soror Dolorosa, Falloch - Stereo, Glasgow, 20/02/12

If you’re in any way at all half interested in the Black Metal scene it will have been hard to avoid the whimsical French outfit ALCEST. From their debut opus “Souvenirs d’un Autre Monde” up to the recent release “Les Voyages de l'Âme” which they are currently touring, it’s hard to deny that Neige has been somewhat revolutionary in creating the reflective fusion of washed out shoegazing and abrasive black metal.

It was Glasgow’s turn this time to experience the sonic din of Neige and co. Supported by gloomy goths SOROR DOLOROSA, LES DISCRETS and Scottish debutants FALLOCH, anyone into the lighter side that metal currently has to offer was certainly in for a special night. Which brings us to FALLOCH. In the chance you’ve been living in a dustbin the past year or so, FALLOCH recently released their critically well received debut album on Candlelight last year, and being huge ALCEST fans themselves, what better way to showcase your music than in front of a room full of like minded people? This was the only date on the tour that got FALLOCH, so it was an extra special night for some, and their brand of post rock influenced Black Metal certainly won them more than a few fans. Ok the singer may appear as if he’s just walked out of a HATEBREED gig, but disregarding such trivial matters it’s quickly apparent that their material crosses over into the live environment extremely well. It’s a pity they only got a couple of songs, but being a support band with tracks which average around ten minutes will do that to you. It’s a pity as Andy and co. were fantastic, especially remarkable given the gigs they’ve played so far you could count on one hand.

And so the French took over with SOROR DOLOROSA. Some may know the rather enigmatic front man Andy Julia from his brief dabbling in the Black Metal scene but other than that most of the crowd were rather oblivious. With what’s best described as one part Rozz Williams, one part Robert Smith and one part lunatic as he clutches at the microphone with the desperation of a nicotine starved Andrew Eldritch he howls and wails his way through the band’s self titled album and debut EP with a determination and pomposity that can only be applauded. Ok so they’re a bunch of leather clad Goths stuck in the eighties, which was visibly not to everyone’s taste, but to someone like me who adores everything black and gloomy from that period they were flat out awesome to these ears. If you’re at all a fan any of the old school goth bands from the eighties you’ll love them, as they stay true to their roots with their brand of guitar driven desperation comparable to THE CURE. Someone needs to give Andy a pound or two for a new t-shirt though, as his nigh unrecognisable excuse for a FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM t-shirt apparently worn since day one of the tour made him look like a Cathouse regular who had just wondered up onstage off the street after a fight with a tiger.

The ever cool Fursey Teyssier is up next, looking as if he’d just walked straight out of 50’s New York, he and his crew of usually restrained shoegazers throw off their chains and crank up the distortion and volume to an intensity which could only leave me open mouthed. I was always a bit passive regarding LES DISCRETS, but after watching them blow the place apart with their hugely MBV-esque wall of noise, technical hitches included, my opinion has changed completely.

Which leads only to the main attraction, ALCEST. And holy fuck did they impress or what. Previous live experiences of ALCEST consisted of only an alcohol fuelled haze from Dublin where they were also very good last September, but this time around Neige, Winterhalter, Indria and Zero were utterly astounding, on a completely different plane altogether. Preffering the material off their last two albums they frequently spun the audience into a trance with their huge noisy waves of pulsating distortion and effervescent picking. Neige’s vocals were hard to pick up, but apparently that’s the way he prefers them when performing live, buried beneath everything else. Among the highlights were the vibrant “Là Où Naissent les Couleurs Nouvelles” and the beautifully delicate “Sur L'Ocean Couleur de Fer”. “Ciel Errant” and "Percées de Lumière" closed a performance which could only be described as nothing short of spellbinding. Until you’ve witnessed them in the live environment, you haven’t experienced the full grandiose majesty and beauty of ALCEST. It’s very rare I ever walk out of a gig totally mesmerized by what I’ve just seen, but they achieved that tonight. For those who have yet to see them, you’re sorely missing out.

[ALBUM REVIEW] Falloch - Where Distant Spirits Remain

1. We are Gathering Dust
2. Beyond Embers & the Earth
3. Horizons
4. Where We Believe
5. The Carrying Light
6. To Walk Amongst the Dead
7. Solace

It’s not hard to see why this pair of Scots were so quickly snapped up by Candlelight. A native band who perform the same organic and grainy style of metal Agalloch, Alcest and the ilk are renowned for? With its recent boom in popularity, people are going to lap this up, and quite rightly so with such quality music as is on show here.

Ever since news of this project broke, I was cautiously anticipating this release, for the project is named after the Falls of Falloch in Scotland, a beauty spot in the heart of the Trossachs which I have visited myself a few times; a very fitting foundation for the album if you ask me.

Andy Marshall, backbone of the band also happens to be the same guy who was responsible for arguably the best Scottish black metal album ever, Askival’s Eternity. This came as a huge surprise as it isn’t exactly the first direction you’d expect an artist with whom the NSBM tag has been bandied about to take. It’s in a completely different boat altogether, and that’s none more obvious in the startling new direction Andy’s vocals have taken.

I’ll not lie, as soon as I heard the vocals initially my first thoughts were “Fuck, since when did 30 Seconds to Mars get heavy?” I despised them, though as time has passed I’ve grown accustomed to them. Hell I might even be starting to like, nay, maybe even love them. They will be like marmite to most though; a heavy immature slant to them, they are reminiscent to something from Kerrang’s filthy vaults. Then again, so would Neige if he sang in English, there’s not a big amount of difference between the two and it’s no surprise Alcest are a huge influence on While Distant Spirits Remain.

It’s fairly hard to categorize While Distant Spirits Remain. Loathe to use ‘post-black’, a tag which appears to get hurled around fervently and applied to anything which fails to fall within the traditional black metal template, it’s closer to the folk metal mould than anything else, Celtic in style with a fair amount of post-rock influence. I can even hear a slight hint of shoegaze from time to time. It’s not really black metal at all, borderline at times but nowhere near enough to be classed as such.

From “We Are Gathering Dust” with its echoes of Primordial in the riffing to the punch and driving rhythm of “Beyond Embers and the Earth” meshed so elegantly with tin whistle and acoustics, it’s almost impossible to pick any faults whatsoever with the music. Harsh vocals only appear sporadically throughout the album, a shrill howl that is the only remaining link along with the folky passages that remain on Askival. “Where We Believe” contains some of the best vocal lines of the album, dreamy yet flow perfectly around the acoustic guitar and ebbing riff work and blasting on the kit.

A special mention has to go out to the brief four minute instrumental “Horizons”. Bodhrán and flute are used together with such well constructed ease to create such an atmosphere that I can’t picture anything else other than myself sitting on the shores of Lomond as the sun creeps below the western mountains. Utterly inspiring stuff.

Fans of Alcest, Empyrium, Agalloch and all such bands similar could definitely do a lot worse than to check this out. Weathered, airy post-rock influenced folk metal which utilizes seamless transitions between the harsh distorted wash and the serene calm. The folk passages are presented with tact and authenticity unlike so many of those plastic European ‘folk’ metal bands. Sit back and let Where Distant Spirits Remain seep through your veins. It may not be instant, but when it does finally settle, it’ll be worth it.

9.5/10

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