It’s fair to say that I think 2011 was a pretty mediocre year, musically speaking. Sure there were some good albums but only a handful were truly brilliant. It seems 2011 may have been a glitch in the sonic scheme of things because here we, are less than 2 weeks into 2012, and French band Alcest have released what can only be described as an album that is fucking epic.

Les Voyages de l'Âme (The Journeys of the Soul) is Alcest’s third studio album and they have come a long way since their 2005 black metal debut Le Secret. It is becoming increasingly difficult to put bands like Alcest into genre pigeon-holes. Les Voyages de l'Âme is an album that is too subtle to be called black metal, too textured to be called shoegaze and too interesting to be called post rock.

It clocks in at just over 50 minutes and many of the 8 tracks push the 8-minute mark. This is music to lose yourself in, to wallow in, to switch off from the rest of the world. It is big without being bombastic and heavy without being sludgy.

Opener 'Autre Temps' starts things off reasonably sedately – all strummed guitars and harmonious vocals. However, as second track 'Là Où Naissent Les Couleurs Nouvelles' starts, things shift up a gear and the screaming begins. But it’s appropriate screaming. It adds depth and brings a new colour; it fits with the overall vibe and by the end of the track a needling riff has replaced the vocal barrage and all is harmonious again.

We’re in single-name-band-member-territory and founder Neige (“Snow” - bass, vocals, guitar, synth) and Winterhalter (drums) carve ice caverns of sound, which at times echo Sigur Ros. With cajones.

Echoes of Slowdive and Ride can be heard through the cathedrals of sound on this album. The heaviest track, 'Beings of Light', is 6 minutes of hugeness. A droning synth and choirs of angels are replaced by a blunderbuss of noise and reverb that just goes on and on and on. Headphones on, lights turned down, this is a truly wonderful experience.

The album gets progressively heavier, with the softer vocals of the opening tracks being buried under piles of guitar and drums. 'Faiseurs De Mondes' is the closest fans of Le Secret will get to Alcest’s back metal roots. But it is completely in keeping with the album. Like Agollogh, Alcest are able to shift effortlessly between acoustic instrumentation and screaming without pausing for breath. And it never feels contrived. Les Voyages de l'Âme is a rare beast in these days of single track downloads – it is a complete album that demands you listen from start to end, uninterrupted.

Epic stuff. Fucking epic.