Amesoeurs

As a very big fan of Agalloch and Alcest, I was recommended Amesoeurs as a band that somewhat is on a similar plain in terms of musical style. The cover instantly caught my attention, and seemed a visual representation of their lyrical themes of urban mundanity that is delineated on this site. After listening to this complete album, I would still say that the visual images generated whilst entranced in the atmosphere created by these talented musicians matches the album artwork a lot. An abandoned, gothic city of black spires, dystopian and depressed.

The vocals of Audrey Sylvain are truly spectacular - an innocent yet tortured voice that is true perfection in the context of this album. Contrasted against Neige's soaring and shredding vocals, it successfully created a pervading atmosphere that I could compare to Alcest's "Ecailles de Lune", except without any remnants of positivity.

As for my favourite tracks of the album - my recommendations include: Heurt, Recueillement, Faux Emblants, I XIII V XIX XV V XXI XVIII XIX ˆ IX XIX ˆ IV V I IV, and La Reine Trayeuse.

"Heurt" begins with distressing ambient sounds that convey a feeling of suspenseful torture - followed by a typically Neige chord progression - truly depressing yet entrancing and astounding. Audrey Sylvain's vocals begin enshrouded with a radio-like fuzzed vocal filter that further add to the torturous atmosphere of the song. Her vocals cease, welcoming somewhat a punkish chord progression that I found very catchy. The rest of the song is fairly lethargic with strong use of repetitive and unorthodox chord progressions that after some time began to lose me, however the very nature of the chord progressions themselves amazed me as they are so unexpected that they demand your attention.

"Recueillement" is probably my single favourite track on this album - expressing Neige's true vocal talent and the pulchritude that can be achieved and felt whilst Neige's vocals soar over shoegaze-style guitars. This song probably incorporates black metal elements the most of all others on the album, and does so very well. All chord progressions beautifully accomodate Neige's shrieking vocals, whilst the slurred and lethargic guitar picking further amalgamates the atmosphere created by this album.

"Faux Emblants" truly shows off the perfection of Audrey Sylvain's vocals - how they smoothly convey a permeating atmosphere of innocence slightly afflicted by a pondering depression. This song is one of the more punk and shoegaze influenced tracks on the album, and incorporates minimal or no black metal influences. If anything, it is more melodic and hopeful, giving the album a positive light.

"I XIII V XIX XV V XXI XVIII XIX ˆ IX XIX ˆ IV V I IV" commences with an enraged Neige's shrieking vocal assault, accompanied with a chromatic and repetitive black-metal-crust-punk type chord progression. This slowly fades into shoegaze, with unorthodox yet entrancing chord progressions, and then once again returns to the theme of the start. I would say, the first part of the song is the most memorable.

Finally, "La Reine Trayeuse" combines catchy shoegaze depressive riffs with Audrey Sylvain's vocals, however less graceful than "Faux Emblants".

Ultimately, this album created not so much a mystical atmosphere that is often generated by Neige in Alcest, but more a depressive and doubtful emptiness and mundanity of life that I can strongly perceive in their musical themes. Their conjuction of black metal and shoegaze themes, alongside clean vocals against Neige's shrieks, is truly magnificent. The only reason I have not granted this 100% is due to the lethargy often experienced in the later parts of certain songs that I find unnecessary and unproductive to the development of the song. Truly a great album nevertheless! A shame that no more are coming apparently.

If you are a fan of this album; I highly recommend listening to the works of Les Discrets, or Alcest!