Black Metal History Month- Sylvaine : "Nova"

 She has a history with black metal despite this not being a black metal, album there are still moments of such here. Her hovering in the periphery of the Norwegian black metal pays off more than you might think. The opening song is a choral piece that carries fey dreaminess to it. It is almost a lullaby to the fey realm. Then lashes back with a more scathing black metal assault on the second song. Though it is not just straight forward blasting for the entire song in fact it is the first two minutes before they introduce more melodics textures and sail the song off into those waters. It reminds me a little of older Alcest in how it transitions. This is poised to have a much wider appeal in terms of the overall sonics. "Nowhere Still Somewhere" is a blend of commercial European hard rock from the 90s with the gloom of the Gathering. The layering of sounds here high lights the excellent production quality. 

The flow between the more atmospheric and smoothly sung passages to the more blackened ones reminds me of Myrkur , though the guitar here is more organic in the way it is strummed with almost an indie rock like grace. "Fortapt" is a long sprawling song that gives plenty of room for dynamics to be explored though some of the fat could have been trimmed in places. "I Close My Eyes So I Can See" is less dark and metallic, but a really well written song that flows well. It does eventually build into harsher vocals and the pace becoming more intense.  

Sure, she is a great singer with a beautiful voice, but I am not sure closing the album with a Nightwish like ballad is the best move. Or really what the song as a whole contributes to the album, as it is not like we have not hear this kind of corseted romance fodder before. I will around this up to a 9 as the last song is really the only misstep. If you are a fan of this band's other work your will love this one, even if it is more accessible, It will be interesting to see how this bleed out into a larger market.  This is being released on Season of Mist  

Catching Up With 2018 -Sylvaine - " Atoms Aligned, Coming Undone"

I got angry that an album review of this Norwegian artist who released her debut back in 2018, said this sounded like if Chelsea Wolfe sang on one of Deafheaven's heavier song. While this is not really true , it underscores a larger problem in music today. There are no gatekeepers. Hiphop has had a quality control enforced by their artists ,where they called each other out for sucking.Rock music has become the internet fodder for millennial snow flakes who melt under criticism, because they are that thin skinned , along with the fact many journalists want to stay in the good graces of P/R Companies and Labels so are afraid to tell it like it is. That is not the case here. Also the problem with the comparison above is that if you are going to say that you need to grow the balls to come out and say they want to sound like Myrkur. Saying they want to sound like Myrkur is far more accurate in the end then comparing them to the two artists in that context. The writer must not know how Deafheaven's heavier work sounds,as it is far heavier than anything I have heard on this album so far.

You are assuming I do not like this album right now. That assumption is wrong, There are Alcest like post-rock elements that keep it soaring. This is not an accident as Neige plays drums on half the album. Her vocals are more Myrkur than Chelsea Wolfe as she strives for a more European folk sound that has more operatic timbre than Wolfe's more melancholy moan. To the point that "Abeyance" brings to mind the Gathering. It's more rock n roll and the least metal song so far, but perhaps the most well written. I have no problem with drawing comparisons with other artists as long as it's accurate. "Worlds Collide" could be said to sound like if the Cranberries to an ethereal journey into more sonic realms. That would true. Comparing it to Chelsea Wolfe would not be as it is not that dark. The Myrkur thing occurs more when there is a jarring transition into a black metal section. Though I would not call this a black metal album. Sometimes this shift feels more forced than others.

The last song has a clean strum of guitar that has more in common with American indie rock. It could be argued that this sounds closer to Chelsea Wolfe, but I would counter by saying it's actually more Emma Ruth Rundle, who has toured with Alcest before so there are the 6 degrees of separation. At the end of the day this marketing quirk is no fault of her own, in fact the point was to show how she doesn't fit into those molds. Sure her sound is familiar. Yes the dynamics are in the same zip code as Myrkur and will certainly appeal to those fans, but the architecture is different and this album is something of her own. I will give it a 9. Out now on Season of Mist.