Winter : Into Darkness (reissue)
by Trevor Portz
Staff Writer
It’s unlikely that anyone who got into the burgeoning extreme metal scene in the late eighties/early nineties wasn’t, at the very least, aware of death/doomers Winter. While most bands were pushing the limits of speed and technicality, these New Yorkers lived up to their name by creating metal that was, essentially, frozen. Like the mountainous icebergs that bring down cruise ships, Winter’s music drifted slowly along, sometimes so slowly that one may have wondered whether it was moving at all. Though rather tedious to a great many metalheads, the band deserves accolades for creating some extremely eerie, lumbering metal that paved the way for acts such as Sunn0))) and Boris. Fittingly, this reissue is being put out by Sunn0)))’s very own Southern Lord Records, a label known for salvaging long-lost classics (such as the pre-Fu Manchu band Virulence’s If This Isn’t a Dream…)
Instrumental opener “Oppression Freedom/Reprise” certainly sets the tone for the album, boasting sludgy power chords dragged along at what feels like little more than about 10 beats per minute. Things do pick up a bit during “Servants of the Warsmen” and “Destiny,” though this is about as peppy as the record ever gets. The band should be commended for creating a whole album that creates the same ambiance as the end of the original studio version of Kiss’ “Black Diamond,” albeit without slowing the tape.
While the band doesn’t seem to have adopted the “tune so low that your strings flop around” mentality many modern bands go for, they do stick to the lower registers, and this, of course, only adds to the gloominess. The guitars boast the signature nineties thinness that plagued many smaller metal releases, but when mixed with the rather shoddy production, they do help to create an overall cold sounding album. Strangely enough, and perhaps because of the plodding tempos and thin mix, John Alman’s vocals are clearly understandable, a definite rarity amongst early growlers.
Winter does seem to personify the old extreme metal adage that it’s easier to play fast; slowing things down really tests a musician’s internal sense of rhythm and doesn’t allow for mistakes that often get lost in a flurry of shredded notes. Unfortunately, this causes the members’ shortcomings to shine like a beacon, especially for John Gondaves, whose drumming shows numerous tempo fluctuations and imperfections. Commendations can be granted for the fact that they left everything natural, though one wonders if they would do the same with today’s point, click, fix technology.
With all of its flaws, Into Darkness is still a very important piece of metal history. Since the band only ever released one further EP, it’s hard to say how they would have progressed and whether they would have been the first band to create an album that essentially doesn’t move. They did play at the 2011 Roadburn Festival in the Netherlands, so perhaps they are on their way to releasing their next sonic attack. Don’t worry, though, you should have plenty of time to get out of the way.
Genre: Death Doom
Band:
John Alman (v,b)
Stephen Flam (g)
Joe Gonclaves (d)
Track Listing:
1. Oppression Freedom/Reprise
2. Servants of the Warsmen
3. Goden
4. Power and Might
5. Destiny
6. Eternal Frost
7. Into Darkness
Label: Southern Lord Records
Website: www.southernlord.com
Hardrock Haven rating: 7/10