Stars & Artists: Neige of Alcest & the Moon in Pisces
Stéphane Paut, known by his stage name "Neige," was born in Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France on April 16, 1985. He is best known for his project Alcest which pioneered the blackgaze subgenre. Neige's birth time is unknown. Although the Moon moves quickly, it was entirely in Pisces on April 16, and this placement deeply colors his artistic output.
Symbolized by a pair of fish, Pisces teases out the tensions of duality. One fish ascends to spiritual realms; the other descends to matter. Pisces is the interplay between imagination and incarnation, the ideal and the real. Pisces is intimately aware of the fact that we are all One, and yet we are simultaneously quite separate. Seeking divine union, but forced to undergo the vexations of earthly existence, Pisces can hold an air of discontent, at times plunging into despair.
As a child, Neige experienced ecstatic visions of an Otherworld. In an interview with Metal Hammer, Neige described it as "this glowing landscape, music floating in the air, colours that don’t even exist here. It was a spiritual experience that changed me to the core” (Everley).
The music of Alcest is Neige's attempt to capture the bliss and beauty of that world as well as the pain of living outside of it. In a recent video from Alcest, Neige stated "Alcest is music that speaks of the beyond, of what our mortal senses cannot perceive, of a nostalgia for a distant other world that we all come from but have forgotten” (Ty).
No Alcest album captures this mixture of ecstatic bliss, sorrow, and longing better than 2010's Ecailles de Lune or "Moon Scales” in English. Neige said "it is about a man who decides to leave one world for another one, literally. Like a passage to another reality, another state of existence” (Prophecy).
Ecailles de Lune by Alcest released March 26, 2010
Musically, its the perfect summation of Alcest as a project. Glittering shoegazing passages ebb and flow only to be tempest tossed by torrents of blast beats and tortured howls. Lyrically, it contains many of Neige's most touching grasps at capturing his fairyland. In Part 2 of the title track, Neige sings "I would like to disappear without fear under the waves, to hear their bewitched lament spring forth from the depths. They'd call me from their kingdom of pearls and sharp marine scales to take me away from my kind, from a world which is foreign to me. "
Although the 'Moon Scales' in the title may refer to musical scales, its hard not to think of glittering fish scales as well. After all, the woman on the cover appears to be a mermaid, a human/seafish hybrid (fitting for Pisces' double-bodied nature). Mythologically, mermaids are alluring folk that draw unwary sailors away with visions and drown them beneath the waves.
The double-bodied nature can also be seen in Neige’s alternating between clean singing and tortured screams. In an interview with Stereoboard, he said “The crystal clear voice, that’s the ethereal, heavenly, otherwordly me [but the harsh vocals are] the screams of frustration of a soul trapped in a body like this” (Mills).
Being a mutable water sign ruled by expansive Jupiter, Pisces is often likened to the ocean. When writing Ecailles de Lune, Neige said "I was especially inspired by the seaside, the energy and the exaltation you can feel when you sit in front of the sea at night. It appears terribly fascinating, full of secrets and scary at the same time” (Prophecy).
Neige's untimed chart plus an outer wheel displaying the transits for Ecailles de Lune’s release date
Traditionally, Pisces is ruled by Jupiter. As the Greater Benefic, Jupiter affirms, stimulates growth, and bestows luck and success. Ecailles de Lune was released on March 26, 2010. At that time, transiting Jupiter was in Pisces, either co-present with or conjunct Neige's natal Moon placement. The record was a great success, winning Alcest a bigger audience and expanding awareness of Neige's unique blend of black metal and shoegaze.
Currently, Saturn is transiting Pisces. As the slowest visible planet, Saturn can speak to legacy and longevity. Neige is still making music to this day and has inspired numerous other blackgaze and post-metal artists, many of whom he has collaborated with like Deafheaven, Sylvaine, Harakiri for the Sky, and Lantlôs. In the fall of 2023, Alcest embarked on a Ecailles de Lune anniversary tour in which they played the album in its entirety, a testament to its staying power and emotional resonance it holds.
Bibliography
“Alcest - Écailles de Lune.” Prophecy Productions, Prophecy Productions, 26 Mar. 2010, en.prophecy.de/en/Artists/Alcest/Alcest-Ecailles-De-Lune.html?listtype=search&searchparam=alcest.
Everley, Dave. “How Alcest Invented Blackgaze and Brought Spirituality to Black Metal.” LouderSound.Com, Metal Hammer, 2 Mar. 2020, www.loudersound.com/features/how-alcest-invented-blackgaze-bringing-spirituality-to-black-metal.
Mills, Matt. “Between Two Worlds: Alcest Discuss the Psychic Crisis of ‘spiritual Instinct’ - Stereoboard.” Stereoboard.Com, Steroboard, 14 Oct. 2019, www.stereoboard.com/content/view/225460/9.
Ty, Kendy, director. Beyond Alcest. YouTube, YouTube, 24 Apr. 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1l99owJjU8. Accessed 15 Jan. 2024.
