Alcest is a French blackgaze band formed in Bagnols Sur Cèze, Languedoc-Roussillon in 2000 by multi-instrumentalist Neige (Amesoeurs, Mortifera, Lantlôs, Peste Noire and more). Alcest was originally conceived as a solo project, though it would eventually take on the form of a full band as Aegnor (also of Peste Noire) and Argoth joined the fray and released a four-track demo entitled Tristesse Hivernale in 2001. This demo was a more straightforward heavy/black metal affair, much different from what would happen next.