Sylvaine is the solo music project of Norwegian
metal multi-instrumentalist Kathrine Shepard. The project began in
Oslo in 2013 and has released four albums to date. In 2019, Shepard became the first woman to earn a nomination for best metal album at the
Norwegian Grammy Awards.[3]
History
Shepard was born in
San Diego,
California in the United States in 1991 to a Norwegian mother and an American father before her family moved to
Oslo at a young age.[4] She is a classically trained vocalist and received a bachelor's degree in musicology from the
University of Oslo.[5] The project's name Sylvaine was inspired by the word "sylvan" (meaning forest, woods) and the surname of French poet
Paul Verlaine.[5]
Shepard self-released her first album Silent Chamber, Noisy Heart in 2014 after writing it in Oslo from late 2012 to early 2013. She moved to
Paris, France to write her second album Wistful, which was released in 2016 on the label
Season of Mist.[4]Alcest bandleader
Neige played the drums on Wistful.[6] Shepard met Neige after an Alcest concert in 2012 and toured with Alcest in 2014.[7]
The third Sylvaine album Atoms Aligned, Coming Undone was released on 2 November 2018 and was preceded by the singles "Abeyance", "Mørklagt" and "L’Appel Du Vide". Neige also played the drums on the record.[8][9][10]Atoms Aligned, Coming Undone was nominated for a
Norweign Grammy Award for best metal album, with Shepard becoming the first female musician to earn a nomination in that category.[3]
In 2020, Shepard released the split EP Time Without End in collaboration with post-black metal artist Unreqvited.[11] The year before, she provided guest vocals on the song "L’île des morts" from Alcest's sixth album Spiritual Instinct.[12]
Sylvaine's fourth album Nova was released in 2022.[13]
^Shteamer, Suzy Exposito,Kory Grow,Hank; Exposito, Suzy; Grow, Kory; Shteamer, Hank (2019-12-11).
"The 10 Best Metal Albums of 2019". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2023-01-24.{{
cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)