LES CHANTS DE L'AURORE

Hard to believe that it's been over five years since Neige's last Alcest album! Was it worth the wait? We'll soon see: this one's a grower--getting better with each listen!

1. "Komorebi" (6:40) opens with every bit of the anthemic power that we've come to expect from Neige's music over the last 15 years, but, unfortunately, this one ends up lacking the bite and beauty of Stéphane's early stuff. The guitar-chord-mirroring vocals render it a bit too much into the realm of Devy Townsend music and the drumming gets a bit too active, domineering, and demanding (mixed too far forward) during the mid-section. (8.6667/10)

2. "L'Envol" (8:02) check out the beautiful animated art that accompany this song on YouTube. Musically it's rather bland and same-same Alcest. I really like the occasional screams and squeals coming from the guitar, but Stéphane's performance with his human voice is just too mundane and unengaging. I do, however, like the use of acoustic guitars without all of the screaming electric guitar chord strumming. I also like Jean Deflandre's more-subdued, "accompanying" drums as opposed to his torrential barrages of artillery fire. (13/15)

3. "Améthyste" (8:31) great drumming. Pitchy vocals (the humane ones). The mix in the sixth minute is perfect--just like the early Alcest albums. (17.5/20)

4. "Flamme Jumelle" (5:23) perhaps the best realized song on the album due to a great sonic palette and some fine engineering. Sounds a bit like OCEANSIZE's "New Pin" (which is good!). The music is interpreted by a pair of twin sprites in a beautifully-choreographed dance video on YouTube. (8.875/10)

5. "Réminiscence" (2:51) piano! (heavily-treated, of course). With Stéphane's tender, beautiful vocal this makes for a moving listening experience despite its brevity. (9/10)

6. "L'Enfant de la Lune" (7:28) with this pretty female-narrated intro I was really hopeful but then the guitars and drums burst into a fairly straightforward pattern with Neige singing "normally" in his mid-range within. The drumming is actually a bit annoying--until the instrumental passage and chorus, but then Jean falls back into his Animal-like barrage. They're definitely much more interesting and less pugilistic in the instrumental passages--especially from 3:55 on. Otherwise, this is a pretty solid and engaging song. (13.5/15)

7. "L'Adieu" (4:52) plays out like a beautiful good-bye song. The heavily-treated slow-picked guitar arpeggi are awesome--very reminiscent of something from the past. (9/10)

Total time: 43:48

I have to admit that either this album just kept getting better the deeper I got into it or else I was (once again) falling under the numbing warmth of falling snow the more I remained immersed in Neige's world.

B/four stars; an excellent addition of artistic prog metal music for the prog lover's music collection.