“M’enfonçant dans toujours plus de nuit.“
Words and photography by Dobbin T, contact before any use.
Doodseskader
One of the most unusual acts in the “Church of Ra” community (bassist Tim De Geiter also plays in Amenra), Doodseskader’s closest comparison is probablywith Dälek. Industrial, hip-hop and post metal are merged for claustrophobic and cold songs sung in both English and . Cards on the table – I did try the band out ahead of ArcTanGent this year, and I don’t think they’re my sound. I was still very happy to see the band on the bill, though, as they were a good foil to the pleasant nature of Alcest and the straight-up metal nature of Svalbard. Furthermore, their presence ensured that everyone in the room was challenged with a new sound. The first thing they did was apologise for a European cold (this was one of the last few dates of the tour, so it’s perhaps inevitable), which did make their live persona a bit more subdued than their studio work. In that setting, you also don’t realise the kinetics of the back and forth between the vocalists, so the impact is tenfold once they’re live before you. Their setup included a fantastic wide format projection complete with trippy visuals and lyrics – I’ll never ever say that projecting your own lyrics is a corny move, and more bands should do the same.
Svalbard
Svalbard have been very open about how Alcest have influenced their sound, but tonight the difference couldn’t be bigger. Both play ethereal music, but Svalbard’s take on hardcore-dipped-blackgaze made them the sledgehammer of the night, providing a set that both smashed and soared. Their setlist started with a tour of their eras, playing tracks stretching all the way back to their 2015 record. “Disparity” fits neatly alongside the more recent tracks, showing exactly when the band locked in their sound. The Weight of the Mask tracks were well selected: “Defiance” and “To Wilt Beneath the Weight” are both on the longer side with dramatic endings that were well worth building up to. Despite “Faking It” opening with the dictionary-grabbing, tounge-twisting line “there is an incredulousness”, it’s the catchiest track from The Weight of the Mask and made for an excellent closer.
Alcest
My hype for this show was perhaps unmatched this year. I’ve been enchanted by William Lacalmontie’s photography for the tour that teased their incredible stage setup and embraced the evening haze of their lightshow, so I hope my shots do magic of the set justice. As a huge fan of Les Chants de l’Aurore, seeing them play almost all of its major tracks (only leaving out “L’Enfant de la Lune” and the interlude) was a delight. On “Komorebi” and “L’Evol” they kept the percussive samples of childish shouts and crane cries which send a stab of emotion into me every time they passed. Indeed, it all got a bit too much for me, as the closing stretch of “Ecailles de lune, Pt. 2” moved me to tears. “Flamme Jumelle” followed and didn’t give me a break either.
Naturally, the band was perfectly mixed, and Electric Brixton seemed to be the perfect compliment to this sound – everywhere I moved in the upper ends and back of the room was at a volume where earplugs weren’t needed. Spiritual Instinct was well represented in the set list, but they also dipped back to Kodama and even Souvenirs d’un autre monde. For the encore, they saved two crowd participation pieces: “Autre temps” and “L’Adieu”, both with wordless choral hooks that that the assembly were more than happy to return. Alcest are masters of their craft, and no band that has followed them has captured the dreamlike worlds in the same way.
Check out our reviews of the latest Alcest and Svalbard albums. Alcest are taking their show to the US in 2025, check out their dates here.