Blackgaze

Back in 2016 I was introduced to a project by a multi-instrumentalist under the moniker of Sylvaine from Norway. I came across her newest album “Wistful” back then and I was just blown away about how dreamy, ethereal, and raw the music was. It was my first ever review for my blog and one of the catalysts to what made me want to start blogging about the underground music industry to begin with. Since that time in May of 2016 (the same month “Wistful” came out) I have been keeping up with my blog as best I could, and it has turned out to be such a beautiful and satisfying success in my professional/personal life. Being able to write down my thoughts and feelings about music that moves me is such a gift and I am glad all you readers who have found my work enjoy reading it too. And here we are 2/22/2022 on a Tuesday and I was graciously given Sylvaine’s newest opus “Nova” from Seasons of Mist to review for you all. As a disclaimer I did not get around to reviewing “Atoms Aligned, Coming Undone” back in 2018 because life got in the way at that time. My feelings on that album are just as positive as “Wistful” and it is a beautiful work across the board, and in my opinion an even darker album in many ways. Though, I will have to say that “Nova” has exceeded all my expectations yet again and I would call it maybe an even darker work than “Atoms Aligned, Coming Undone”.

I find it very appropriate that the new album came out and was written during the height of the pandemic. For me it was a very painful, and strenuous time in my own life, and from hearing “Nova” it sounds like it was also a very difficult time in Sylvaine’s life too. There is a raw, vulnerable, and very introspective tone in every single song. I could feel the pain, the longing, and the hope in waves as the album progressed. These past two years have been an age of difficult transitions and thinking about the concepts of mortality every day. The pandemic brought death, divorces, break-ups, layoffs, and every other bad thing about life in-between. Though during this dark time there was an enlightenment that was found in those dank caves each passing day. I would say the sonic journey “Nova” puts the listener through hits all these concepts in big and small ways. There is a real sense of finding self in the first song “Nova” and as the album progresses you are introduced to a multitude of emotions and journeys of the inner psyche of Sylvaine. If I could think of the proper words, it would be memories, anger, melancholia, shock, ends, beginnings, and the dreams/nightmares that come when you go through a painful transition in your life. In the end after all the pain one has been through is a feeling of recovery, healing, and seeing the world (as well as your existence) in a new light as you will hear in the final song “Everything Must Come To An End”.

As for the middle of the album there are so many different and intriguing ideas happening throughout “Nova” there is a lot of heavy songs with straight up black metal coldness abound especially in “Mono No Aware”, “Fortapt”, and “I Close My Eyes So I Can See” but there is that ever-distinct warmth and beauty sprinkled throughout these songs that makes Sylvaine’s work so unique and interesting to hear. I would probably say “Nowhere, Still Somewhere” is the most straightforward goth rock/shoegaze song I have heard in her discography I would say the song is a beautiful combo of Type O Negative meets My Bloody Valentine and I think it shows the growth and maturity of Sylvaine’s songwriting chops. The vocals are stellar, and the screams are some of the coldest and most spine-chilling I have heard in a while. The music itself is tight, epic, meandering and very dreamlike. The standout instrument to me are the drums by Dorian Mansiaux they are very powerful, heavy and reminds me a lot of Aaron Weaver’s drum work in Wolves in the Throne Room. There are quiet introspective moments in the songs that lead to loud heavy and aggressive moments which makes “Nova” very engaging to listen to.

Overall, I will say that “Nova” is a brilliant and beautiful piece of music that needs to be heard repeatedly. It will take you through an internal journey of self. The highs, and lows of life and the memories that come with it will be a common feeling as you listen deeper and deeper to the sonic catharsis of “Nova”. There is an obvious shift in song-writing maturity in the album and it is absolutely required listening if you are having a bad day or been going through traumatic transition in your life. There is genuine sense of relatability and understanding in Sylvaine’s works over the years and I feel her newest album lets these concepts shine a brighter light. The human condition and its follies are very prominent in “Nova”, and I think it gives a greater, and more universal understanding of how to navigate these rough waters to find the lighthouse and land at the end where you can finally rest.

Sylvaine’s new album “Nova” releases on March 4th 2022!

Rating 9/10

Bandcamp: https://sylvainemusic.bandcamp.com/

Instagram: www.instagram.com/sylvainemusic/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sylvainemusic/

Official Page: www.sylvainemusic.com

eneferens

I have spent a seemingly long time trying to figure out my place in this world, so much has happened in my life and I started seeing myself getting lost in indifference. The world buzzed by while I was stuck in a nucleus of numbness, and loss of self. I know I could always turn to metal to help through these movements in life. But lately I have started to feel indifferent about the music I have been listening to lately. The music didn’t move me as much as it used to do. And then when I thought there was no turning back for me I found a solo black/doom metal project called Eneferens.

The brainchild behind this project is Jori Apedaile out of Minneapolis, MN. I was first introduced to Jori’s mindset when I heard him talk on Jason Walton’s podcast “I Hate Music” his taste in music reflected my own tastes and when I learned more of his solo-project Eneferens. I heard a track off his album “In the Hours Beneath” and I had this illumination that this is a project I needed to dive into more. I purchased both his albums “In the Hours Beneath” and the “The Inward Cold” and spent a good chunk of time really being floored by the emotions, thoughts and feelings found in the music. There were feelings of anger, regret, indifference, mortality, nature and most importantly a resonating sense of love lost and love ignored. Every single one of these elements in these albums fit me and the struggles I have been dealing with for a couple years now. As I got lost in the music and looking into my inward self I had a chat with Jori and he mentioned that he was working on a new album and it will be coming out soon. This album ended up being his newest opus “The Bleakness of Our Constant” and this album came out at the right time for me.

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I have been dealing with deaths in my family, boredom at my job, searching for love, and being constantly reminded that the person I care deeply for has no idea how much I do care. I have found myself in a place that is just darkness, and loss that is both unfamiliar and confounding. My thoughts were all jumbled up like a jigsaw puzzle without corner pieces. I could not find rationale or reasoning behind these thoughts in my head. Then, like a sudden thunderstorm “The Bleakness of Our Constant” came out and as soon as I heard the first guitar chords in “Leave” I got lost once again in the brilliance of Enferens. Every song hit every feeling and thought I had about this current moment in my life.

The thoughts of loss, and wishing for something that cannot be while longing it to be. I can picture in my head while hearing tracks like “Awake” and “Weight of the Mind’s Periapt” a woman of beauty that is positive, energetic and just seems like the right fit even though you cannot put your finger on why you feel this way about her. Though instead of her there by your side she is in the distance, aloof and hazy. You are trying to make her aware but because of second thoughts, and your own insecurities she will never know how you truly felt about her. “The Bleakness of Our Constant” really hits home on these thoughts, images and feelings. If you have ever been in this type of situation this album will really help you understand how to navigate it and find closure even if it seems so far away.

Listening to a “The Bleakness of Our Constant” can be painful but profound. Being reminded of past failures and the guilt surrounding it helps you grow like it did for me. I am still in a daze most nights and days and as I piece together these threads in my life I hope to be whole again. The music, vocals, lyrics and imagery in “The Bleakness of Our Constant” hits highs and lows as well as darkness and light. It is an album that gives imagery of misty woods, old houses, mourning lovers, unrequited romance and the sadness found in being ignored. This is a very personal, vulnerable and thought provoking album and as soon as you complete it in its entirety you will come to find out that you are not alone in these feelings. I highly suggest you give not only “The Bleakness of Our Constant” a listen but pay a visit to Enferens’s other brilliant albums “The Inward Cold” and “In the Hours Beneath”. As you get lost in these beautiful albums you will start to find a way out of the darkness through the cold light of the stars above.

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