Hyver – Shaâtaunoâr: An Album in Which You Are the Hero (Choose Your Own Dungeon Black Metal)

 

I forget when I first heard Hyver, but I can tell you from experience this type of sound only seems to be properly done in the hands of the French. No one else has the poetic nature in their soul to pull off dungeon synth black metal of the fantasy role-play variety. But this is more different than that. I’ve heard that before and the whimsy requires a certain setting in which to work. Shaâtaunoâr: An Album in Which You Are the Hero, however, is its own thing. It’s unique in that it invites you to stop, think, and decide. That might seem cliché, but this is literally what you do here. It’s not mere phraseology, but rather the literal direction of the album. To make myself clear, this a form of choose-your-own-adventure, like a book turned into music. You heard that right. The “adventure” is completed based on the tracks you’re prompted to select. Again, it’s only the French who can pull off this type of black metal. The rest of you don’t have the artistry for it.

   

Shaâtaunoâr: An Album in Which You Are the Hero has the frostbitten riffing you expect, and honestly it’s pretty typical in that regard. Were it not for the inclusion of primitive synth weaving various patterns of poetic sorcery, this would likely be at times indistinct. But the structure transforms what is above-average black metal into a narrative journey that deeply invests the listener in the experience itself. This is hard to do, even with music alone, but Hyver, playing off the listener’s own selective process and using songs and their structures to evoke the paths taken in what is a musical dungeon crawl is genius. The riffing is generally stark, but the expressive touches of synth are like centuries of moss over much-worn stonework, giving this album grit while letting its melodies glint in the mist without cleaning off the rust. I didn’t even realize what I was listening to until I caught the narrator’s first set of choices, then started again to fully immerse myself. What first seemed a potentially desperate gimmick is surprisingly expressive, and even through several listens tracks that would likely be passed over in the dank pits of dungeon black metal of recent years is elevated to a new standard. I’m curious to see what Hyver does next, but Shaâtaunoâr: An Album in Which You Are the Hero for now will pique your interest as it anchors fantasy with a great sense of wonder, keeping it dark, and even surprisingly philosophical by the end.

 

Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls

Hyver – Shaâtaunoâr: An Album in Which You Are the Hero
Antiq Records
Cover Art: Flamberge Illustrations
4.3 / 5