Kodama (Japanese for "tree spirit" or "echo") is the fifth studio album by French post-metal band Alcest. It was released on September 30, 2016 via Prophecy Productions. It is a concept album about "the confrontation of the natural world and the human world", inspired by Hayao Miyazaki's film Princess Mononoke. Musically the album is a return to the band's earlier blackgaze style, due to Neige's feeling that he "needed to go for something more punchy, darker, and more personal." Kodama is also the first Alcest album to feature bassist Indria Saray, though he has performed live with the band since 2010.
Production and recording
According to Neige, the band spent "many months" in the studio recording the album, from January to April 2016. The drums were first recorded in the band's own rehearsal space to an old tape recorded, "using only the natural reverb of the big attic room there, to give the sensation of a real, vast space." Having finished recording the drums, the band went to Drudenhaus Studio to record the rest of the album. Neige used only a Fender Jazzmaster with a variety of effect pedals, deliberately aiming to recreate the band's more natural live sound in the studio.
On January 15, 2016, Neige published a post that read: "New album. Recording started." on the band's Facebook page; he further commented that the album would be "definitively darker." On March 3, the recording of guitars was finished. On May 16, he stated that the album was in the mastering process. On July 26 they officially announced the title, cover art, track listing, and release date.
Musical style, writing and composition
According to Winterhalter, "it was a 3 year writing process, in addition to 3 months of recording and mixing", with Neige beginning writing almost immediately after returning from recording Shelter in Iceland. "Untouched" was the first song written for this album, followed by the title track. "These two songs (especially 'Kodama') kind of forged the sound of the whole album. Through them I could foresee the album's shape and identity and the further direction I wanted to take for the rest of the album."
Neige has said that the album is heavily influenced by Japanese culture and by Hayao Miyazaki's film Princess Mononoke. Neige was particularly inspired by the film's protagonist San, seeing something of himself in her. Drawing on the film, Kodama particularly centres around the conflict between the "human" and "natural" worlds. Talking about the album's Japanese influence, Neige said that it comes from his own love of Japanese culture, particularly the way in which "Japan has a hyper technologic society, always ahead of its time, full of crazy items, gadgets, etc, but yet people there are very attached to tradition, nature, and spirituality." He cited the band's two tours of Japan, in which they performed within Buddhist temples, as having a profound influence on the direction of this album.
It also represents a return to Alcest's earlier blackgaze style. Neige said that they "wanted to go back to something a bit more punchy, because at the time we felt this need, in a very natural way, because after such a mellow record, you want to make something a bit more punchy." "As for the guitars, I wanted to bring back the riffing and contrasts in our sound, exploring the possibilities of the guitar as much as I possibly could. Vocal wise, I felt that some of the songs could benefit from more contrasted expressions. I chose not to limit myself and went from harsh screams to very airy and ethereal vocal lines." He also highlighted Grimes' album Visions, Tool's last two albums (Lateralus and 10,000 Days), Dinosaur Jr., The Smashing Pumpkins, Cocteau Twins, Explosions in the Sky, The Cure, and Sonic Youth as musical influences on the direction of this album.