Alcest

Alcest is a French band from Bagnols-sur-Cèze founded and led by Neige (Stéphane Paut). Started around 2000 as a solo black metal project, it evolved after an early lineup phase into the vehicle for Neige's singular fusion of shoegaze, post-rock, and metal — a sound often credited as a pioneering force in what came to be called blackgaze. Rather than staying within extreme metal's conventions, Alcest layered ethereal, reverb-drenched guitars and dreamlike clean vocals with occasional blast beats and harsh vocals, creating music built around the concept of an idyllic, otherworldly realm Neige has described drawing from personal childhood experiences.

Drummer Winterhalter, previously of Les Discrets and Peste Noire, joined the studio lineup in 2009, helping shape the band's sound on subsequent releases as Alcest expanded from a solo vision into a fuller band presentation while touring internationally. Their catalogue moves between the melancholic and the transcendent, with songs such as «Kodama», «Autre temps», and «Sur l'océan couleur de fer» illustrating the band's blend of delicate melody and heavier atmospheric weight.

Alcest remains closely associated with the French post-metal and shoegaze scene, cited as a key influence on numerous bands that mix extreme metal roots with dream-pop and shoegaze textures, largely because of Neige's persistent, singular artistic vision across the project's evolving lineup.