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Kathrine Shepard’s solo project, Sylvaine, which she began in 2014, kicked off March with her fourth album, Nova, inspired by deeply personal themes.

Described by Kathrine as an “emotional cleansing,” Nova symbolizes rebirth, offering an atmospheric void-gaze experience that seeks open doors at the boundaries of human form. Unlike her 2018 release Atoms Aligned, Coming Undone, which leaned towards black metal, Nova is a much calmer album. Although it occasionally gets aggressive, it generally maintains a serene demeanor. The black metal aggression seen in Wistful and Atoms Aligned, Coming Undone is scarcely present in Nova. However, the album features much more prominent vocal moments. The emotional storms in Sylvaine’s music now create a gentle breeze, primarily through Kathrine’s layered vocal approach rather than instruments. The charm in Kathrine’s voice and its Nordic tones often carry the emotional weight in Nova without relying heavily on instruments.

As mentioned at the beginning, Sylvaine draws inspiration from personal themes, reflecting emotions, inner conflicts, grief, sorrow, and the transient nature of life. Kathrine started working on Nova in 2019, and it stands out as the album where these feelings are most intensely processed. The album opens with the song “Nova,” featuring an entirely spontaneous, made-up language, using the voice as the most personal instrument. This conveys deeply personal and sincere emotions beyond language and boundaries.

After the enchanting breeze of “Nova,” we return to familiar waters with “Mono No Aware,” which features blast beats and aggressive sections not often seen in the rest of the album. Drummer Dorian Mansiaux, who also performs with Sylvaine live, elevates the song’s peaks, while Kathrine’s soft voice and screams create a duality that captures the conveyed emotions.

“Nowhere, Still Somewhere” slows things down with a memorable melody, leading to the 12-minute composition “Fortapt” that showcases Kathrine’s compositional skills. The song builds an atmosphere with vocal harmonies, layered riffs, and screams. After a climactic second half, it concludes with vocals leading the atmospheric close.

One of the most striking moments in Nova is “I Close My Eyes so I Can See.” This song serves as a summary of Nova, displaying Sylvaine’s layered and aggressive side from Wistful and Atoms Aligned, Coming Undone, while also embracing the melodic vocal structure from Silent Chamber, Noisy Heart. Its melodic structure lays bare the emotional intensity, allowing you to find a sense of calm when you close your eyes. Sylvaine’s deeply personal journey (excluding the bonus track “Dissolution”) ends with “Everything Must Come to an End.”

For the album’s closing track, Sylvaine is joined by SAOR violinist Lambert Segura and cellist Patrik Urban “Nostarion.” Towards the end of the song, the sadness in Kathrine’s voice finds resonance in the strings. Following the Alcest-like blackgaze influences heard in Atoms Aligned, Coming Undone, Nova’s shift towards shoegaze and dreampop has sparked different opinions about Sylvaine’s place in metal charts. However, I believe categorizing such a personal project is unnecessary. If it could fit into specific molds, the emotions Sylvaine aims to convey would be confined within certain genre boundaries, failing to reach the listeners.

Nova is vocally dynamic, emotionally intense, and, despite being calmer and softer compared to previous albums, it features unforgettable tracks that you’ll find yourself humming and wanting to listen to repeatedly.

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