Füneral Rain Press Cörps

French vanguard Alcest, responsible for the influential Souvenirs d’un Autre Monde and its masterful follow-up Écailles De Lune, are set to tour North America once again beginning later this month. Opening as direct support for Enslaved, Alcest begin the 19-date trek on September 23rd in Springfield, Virginia and conclude it on October 14th in West Hollywood, California, extensively traveling through Canada in between. Ghost were originally slated to be among the tour package, but unfortunately had to drop off recently due to visa complications. Here are the confirmed dates/venues:

September 23 – Springfield, VA @ Jaxx
September 24 – Millvale, PA @ Mr. Small’s Theatre
September 25 – New York, NY @ Gramercy Theatre
September 26 – Cambridge, MA @ The Middle East
September 27 – Québec City, QC @ Impérial
September 29 – Montreal, QC @ Café Campus
September 30 – Toronto, ON @ The Opera House
October 1 – Columbus, OH @ Outland Live
October 2 – Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
October 3 – St. Paul, MN @ Station 4
October 5 – Winnipeg, MB @ WECC
October 6 – Regina, SK @ The Exchange
October 7 – Edmonton, AB @ The Starlite Room
October 8 – Calgary, AB @ Dickens
October 10 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre
October 11 – Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
October 12 – Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
October 13 – San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s
October 14 – West Hollywood, CA @ Troubadour

As announced earlier, Alcest have revealed the title to their third album as Les voyages de l’âme (English: “The journeys of the soul“). The record is tentatively scheduled for early 2012 release through Prophecy Productions, with further release news to announced shortly. Alcest are widely credited with bringing in a dreamier, more shoegazing element into extreme metal the past few years, influencing many others to follow in their wake. Surely, Les voyages de l’âme will be yet another monumental release for the band, cemeting their modern legendry that much more.

From Prophecy Productions:

“On the night of the 9th September, Jonas Bergqvist a.k.a. ‘B’, founding member, main composer, and guitarist of Lifelover, died unexpectedly. The cause of his death is still unclear and has yet to be established.

The message of Jonas’s passing came as a surprise to the Prophecy team. Hence, we lack the appropriate words for this tragic event. To us, Jonas wasn’t just a very creative artist, but also a pleasant and enthusiastic person. It is for certain that we won’t be the only ones missing his character, his passion, and his unique musical language.
In the face of this tragic loss, we would very much like to extend our heartfelt condolence towards Jonas’s family, his friends, and the remaining musicians of Lifelover.”

From Myself:

I’m a fan of Lifelover. Not a maniacal fan, or even an avid fan. But every song I’ve heard from this band has been a killer tune, with “Mental Central Dialog” being my–and many others I’m sure–favorite. So from myself I extend my own condolences to Jonas’s family and friends and to Lifelover. Rest in Peace Jonas.

Genres: Depressive Black Metal, Progressive Black Metal
Label: Prophecy Productions

This here is the re-release of Konkurs from Prophecy, and from what I can tell, there is no difference in this version from the last. It’s just simply a way to get the music to the fans before the new Lifelover comes and fucks up your ears next year.
So what is my opinion on Konkurs? It’s the most fucked up black metal album I’ve ever heard. There’s so much more than black metal here, everything from rock to goth. I can’t even properly describe this album. I can’t do it justice. I can say that I love it, and I fell in love with it when the song “Mental Central Dialogue” was on a KnuckleTracks CD or a similar magazine’s free disc. Immediately I was hooked and I needed my fix.
And now I’ve been given another shot in the arm with Prophecy’s release of it. If you like depressive black metal, avantgard music, or just want to try something different, try out Lifelover’s Konkurs.
8 out of 10.

Lifelover on MySpace.

This year will see the release of “Alternative Matter”, a 10th anniversary collection of rare and unreleased acoustic versions, demos, live versions, remixes and new recordings of Antimatter material. The 24-track double album will be released in two versions – a deluxe digipack and a strictly limited edition 4-disc premium artbook containing a bonus DVD and EP. More details to follow.

You can now place your pre-order of the vinyl edition of Nàttsòl’s upcoming debut album Stemning at the Prophecy online shop. The LP is strictly limited to only 300 copies and comes with a poster of the atmospheric cover art.

Pre-order Nàttsòl – Stemning