Alcest Recording Fifth Album; Touring Europe this Fall
Released in 2014, Alcest‘s fourth album, Shelter (review here), was a bold step away from the post-black metal style the French unit had proffered on its first three outings. You can see it in the video below for “Opale” — it’s practically obsessed with color. I’m not entirely surprised to read that for the yet-untitled follow-up fifth LP, Alcest are looking more toward their earlier work than continuing to build on what they accomplished with Shelter, but I wouldn’t necessarily expect them to come out with Souvenirs d’un Autre Monde Pt. 2 or anything like that either. Alcest has never been anything but forward thinking, and I’d imagine the lessons they learned on Shelter will be a factor in whatever the new one is called as well when it’s finished.
We’ll find out this fall, reportedly, which also happens to be when Alcest are touring Europe with Japan’s Mono. PR wire info and tour dates follow:
ALCEST Working on New Album; Band Issues Statement
Celebrated French Shoegaze Exemplars Ready Fifth Full-Length
Parisian Post-metal duo ALCEST will release its new album this fall via Prophecy Productions. The band — vocalist / multi-instrumentalist Neige and drummer Winterhalter — are currently putting the finishing touches on the record, which they have described as “intense songs full of contrasts and dynamics.” The as-yet-untitled release follows the duo’s celebrated 2014 LP, Shelter.
“For the past 3 months we have been recording our new album, and right now we are doing small adjustments on the mix,” comments Neige. “It’s coming to an end of a very long journey (the longest studio experience we’ve had so far) and we feel quite exhausted, but really happy. For each album we try to challenge ourselves, developing the songs in new directions. This time will be just as special, but also a return to the approach we had in our earlier albums; with intense songs full of contrasts and dynamics. Even if this album is quite “alien” in character, we felt the need to come back to the origins of the project. The release date is planned for Autumn 2016 and then we will embark on a 37 date European co-headlining tour with the Japanese band MONO. We are very much looking forward to this tour and to show you the work of our last couple of years.”
This summer, ALCEST will join labelmates GERM, Secrets of the Moon, Les Discrets, Helrunar, Völur and more at the 2016 Prophecy Fest, set to take place July 29-30 inside Balver Höhle, “a natural cave from old stone age” in Balve, Germany. For full details, visit this location.
Alcest & MONO on tour:
Oct 27, 2016 // Beatpol // Dresden, DE
Oct 29, 2016 // Strom // Munich, DE
Oct 30, 2016 // Gebaude 9 // Cologne, DE
Oct 31, 2016 // Jubez // Jubez, DE
Nov 1, 2016 // Salzhaus // Salzhaus, CH
Nov 2, 2016 // Circolo Magnolia // Segrate, IT
Nov 3, 2016 // Mostovna // Nova Gorica, SI
Nov 4, 2016 // Locomotiv // Bologna, IT
Nov 5, 2016 // Init // Rome, IT
Nov 6, 2016 // Spazio 211 // Turin, IT
Nov 7, 2016 // Cco Villeurbanne // Lyon, FR
Nov 8, 2016 // La Maroquinerie // Paris, FR
Nov 9, 2016 // Engine Rooms // Southampton, UK
Nov 10, 2016 // The Institute // Birmingham, UK
Nov 11, 2016 // Queens Hall // Leicester, UK
Nov 12, 2016 // Classic Grand // Glasgow, UK
Nov 13, 2016 // Brudenell Social Club // Leeds, UK
Nov 14, 2016 // Gorilla // Manchester, UK
Nov 15, 2016 // The Globe // Cardiff, UK
Nov 16, 2016 // Marble Factory // Bristol, UK
Nov 17, 2016 // Brixton Electric // London, UK
Nov 18, 2016 // VK // Brussels, BE
Nov 19, 2016 // 013 // Tilburg, NL
Nov 20, 2016 // P60 // Amstelveen, NL
Nov 21, 2016 // Uebel & Gefährlich // Hamburg, DE
Nov 22, 2016 // Lille Vega // Copenhagen, DK
Nov 23, 2016 // Pustervik // Gothenburg, SE
Nov 24, 2016 // Parkteatret // Oslo, NO
Nov 25, 2016 // Debaser Strand // Stockholm, SE
Nov 26, 2016 // KB // Malmo, SE
Nov 27, 2016 // Binuu // Berlin, DE
Nov 28, 2016 // B90 // Gdansk, PL
Nov 29, 2016 // Firlej // Wroclaw, PL
Nov 30, 2016 // Szene // Vienna, AT
Dec 1, 2016 // Durer Kert // Budapest, HU
Dec 2, 2016 // Tabacka // Kosice, SK
Dec 3, 2016 // Rockstadt // Brasov, RO
https://www.facebook.com/alcest.official
https://twitter.com/Alcestofficial
http://prophecy.de/