United Guttural - OLD WAINDS "Death Nord Kult" LP

OLD WAINDS "Death Nord Kult" LP
[dmp0041]

~~$24.00~~ $16.80

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Artist: OLD WAINDS

Title: Death Nord Kult

Format: LP

Country: Russia

Genre: Black Metal

Record Label: Debemur Morti Productions

From the stark, barren permafrost tundra of Northern Russia comes a portent of impending doom: like some insatiable demonic blizzard, the fourth full-length from OLD WAINDS is upon mankind. Germinated in the lifeless land of one season, infinite sadness and endless hatred, where little else grows but pure primordial evil, this is the sound of freezing winds, glacial isolation and permanent darkness. Like icicles of hate, eight chilly odes consume all within range, harbingers of the deathly coldness that will embrace and cloak us all ultimately. Blood stains the permanently-frozen soil, producing a dark, wintry kaleidoscope of black and crimson, consuming the blinding light of a dying sun, as long shadows creep across the icy expanses and winter commences its ominous onslaught. Sparse and desolate, veiled in a shrill, gloomy mist, OLD WAINDS embody the harsh Arctic Circle hinterland that conceived them. Their furious storm of blackness acknowledges the old school but has a trademark, twilight atmosphere unique to this frostbitten horde.

Tracklisting:

1. Storm-Whip 04:14
2. Once Moonlight... 03:59
3. Cruel Black Dead 03:59
4. Bloodstained 04:04
5. Cold Twilight Of The Worlds 04:48
6. Born In the Freezing Dark 04:06
7. Death Nord Kult 05:11
8. Cold Northern Order 05:20
Total playing time 35:41

Sounds:

Review:

Written by sublime_wreckage [Metal Archives]

To start off, I admit I don't like much of Old Wainds' back catalog; particularly the stuff predating 2005. But, that's no reason to pass up a chance to hear these Russian blokes' newer material. For me, it starts with 2005's Scalding Coldness album. I'll just say now that I thought the album was pretty decent (with a dynamite track or two found in the middle of the album), however, it was a bit touch and go at times. Indeed though, it made enough of an impression on me to look to the future of this band's career. And how right was I... Death Nord Kult is phenomenal! And when I say phenomenal, make no mistake about it, DNK is nothing short of an onslaught of quality black metal that is well-written, well-played, and difficult to label. To put it most simply, DNK starts out with a distinctive blackened thrash vibe that relentlessly beats the listener over the head with whiplash worthy riffs for the first 1/3rd of the album. They have a distinctive old-school feel, presented and played in a very contemporary way--which makes it enjoyable as opposed to being stale or rehashed (I suppose it might not seem so fresh to those of you heavy into the thrash stuff over the years). What's really wild about the album is that the production is somewhat unique. It's a little on the thicker end of the spectrum as far as black metal goes, but certainly stays grounded in the genre by avoiding the bone-toting, thick-headed Neanderthal route of death metal. Old Wainds have given careful attention to all instruments, so clearly the bass plays much more of important role than it normally would. Most of the time this would be a no-no, but they do it right. Also worthy of mentioning is that the vocalist's levels don't overpower the music; in fact, he definitely adds to the compositions with his above average heathenish croaking. What's nice is if you thought that was all there was to NDK, you would be sorely mistaken. After track 3, OW starts to play a little more straight forward, melodic black metal riffs with much of the same intensity and tempo previously established by the opening (thrashing) songs. Even more interesting is that they finally take time to slow things down a bit at points, and create even more complex compositions. At times you can clearly hear that whole new "orthodox" thing being worked in, like on tracks 5 and 6. And by god, someone finally does it right... not letting the whole thing drone on and bore the listener for hours on end. Instead, they work it into the framework of fast songs in a way that is as intelligent as it is effortless. On track 6 for example, when the music breaks down and transitions.... brilliant. Of course, this is where OW works in their killer "orthodoxy" riff that colors the remainder of the track, but not before speeding that tempo back up and showing off just how skilled they are at creating blasphemous evil in multiple sub-genres. More hints of this can be heard as the album soldiers on, and if that wasn't enough, it even crosses over into limited bursts of, what sounds like, blackened shoe-gaze elements; flirting with what I could only describe as the avant-garde at times. Any dark soul would have to quip, "most impressive!" This album is pretty much a masterpiece and deserves a good listen through to fully appreciate. Old Wainds is a band that is doing their own thing and exploring new heights by incorporating a multitude of previously uncombined elements. I'll go out on a limb here and say Death Nord Kult is definitely a top 3 album for black metal in 2008.

This product was added to our catalog on Monday 11 April, 2011.