Review Summary: The balance of dreamy and abrasive
It is unbelievably rare to come across talent like Sylvaine. Katherine Shepherd, the multi-instrumentalist mastermind behind Sylvaine, continues to display her surreal ability to compose and balance the beautiful and the harsh with her newest record,
Nova. From the lavishly constructed orchestral compositions and the reverberated, delicate chord progressions to the abrasive, distorted riffs and the powerful drum beats, Sylvaine creates a record that is surely to be acclaimed throughout the years in the post-metalgaze scene.
In a way,
Nova feels like a wave of sound, rising and receding in a gracious manner. The record opens with a primarily a cappella track, featuring beautifully layered melodies that glide along each other, subtly accentuated by the accompanying clean guitar chords and orchestral harmonies. This minimalistic beauty gives way to an explosion of energy, filled with blast beats and tremolo guitar riffs and high screeches. Yet, the melodic tranquility is still present within this sudden shift. Within the heavier driven guitars lies a rather harmonious riff that exudes a peaceful aura while Sylvaine’s siren-like vocals remain soothing beneath the screeches and intense drum beats throughout “Mono No Aware.” This trend of elegance amidst the metallic overtones prevails throughout the proceeding tracks, reaching a climax in “Fortapt.” With this nearly twelve-minute behemoth, Sylvaine manages to craft an immense composition. “Fortapt” is full of serene sections contrasted by powerful moments amplified by screams and slightly tinged aggression in the instrumentation, yet never sacrificing the beauty of
Nova.
After this ultimate apex, the record begins to descend from its explosive high back into its calming atmosphere. Although “I Close My Eyes so I Can See” maintains much of the previous use of screams and distorted guitars, it almost feels more contained, leaving a far greater passage of cleaner melodies and beautiful string layers that accent the primary instrumentation. However, with the closer “Everything Must Come to an End,” Sylvaine perfectly encapsulates the very essence of beauty, peace, and tranquility. In the final eight minutes of
Nova, Sylvaine eliminates the drums and allows the guitars, orchestration, and vocals to work with each other and build upon each other’s chemistry. As the track grows, the vocals and chords slowly begin to amplify and feel fuller, creating an ebb and flow. Ultimately, this leads to the final moments of the record, leaving behind the vocals and allowing the music to create a serene soundscape completed with lushly composed strings and breath-taking chord progressions that provide a peaceful end to the album.
What more can I say about an album as magnificent as this? The beauty of the composition, the intricacies of the harmonies and melodies, the contrast of the peaceful and the chaotic; it all complements each other to create a record like none other.
Nova not only defines itself as a brilliant album in its scene, it defines itself as an exquisitely crafted album in all of metal. It defines itself as the perfect balance between beauty and chaos.
