The first thing that strikes me when I see a new band from Russia is the contrast between the country’s environmental context and what they want to express in their work. In the case of Winterkhor, Dostoevsky, the cold Siberian steppes, and the Taiga (about which I’ve seen documentaries) come to mind. In this instance, the cover the band used is a forest consumed by fire. Elementarily speaking, it’s quite a curious contrast but not far from reality because forests burn every so often; I think that’s the focal point of this work. It opens with an introduction of guitars weeping sad, somewhat sombre melodies that reminded me a lot of the mythical ‘Somberlain’ by Dissection.
These melodies take root until they reach the first track, ‘Ognem i mechem’ (Land of Cold Fog), and what emanates from the frozen atmosphere is a fairly melodic Black Metal with a lot of influence from the Swedish school of the 90s, very well executed and organised. The vocals aren’t strident or guttural; they just sway, singing odes and old tales. The riffs are broad in scope. Melodic elements completely dominate the album, making it easily digestible for those who enjoy these styles, although in some tracks they combine mid-tempo groove rhythms with fast rhythms which gives a dynamic nuance. One such example is track 4, ‘Сибирский лес’ (Siberian Forest), which makes use of the elements described above.
The following track, ‘Из недр истории’ (From the Depths of History), has the quality of embellishing the music with clean vocals that, with their Slavic language, give it a special touch, alternating with the regular vocals of the album and some guttural ones. I think this track is one of the best on the album, with a high level of demand and execution for the drums which have gone through different rhythms—although not as demanding as in the track ‘У истоков древних времён’ (At the Origins of Ancient Times’), where blast beats and double bass drums are the rule by which the whole track is measured, amalgamated with the eternal melodies.
I’ll make a brief digression here, as Winterkhor comes from another band that practised a pagan-oriented Black Metal, and I believe those embers still burn on this album. This results in a special case, as it’s a bit complicated to mix all those styles, rhythms, concepts, visions, ideology, and other things without it all feeling forced; on the contrary, rivers of fire flow here and there! The title track has a very good, almost memorable opening that leads into a combination of melodic rhythms and patterns. At 1:30, some incredible tremolo riffs emerge, and the ones that follow, which serve as a bridge, are even better.
I think I’ve mentioned this in other reviews, but the title track always carries the heavy burden of being the black flag waving in the wind. I think they alleviate that weight by adding some unexpected guitar solos and, obviously, taking advantage of the ample space left by the longest track to elaborate on the musical elements used in the other tracks. The album is quite soulful, vigorous, solid, and brimming with feelings of contained anger, although it passed me by quickly despite its 35-minute duration, which was brutally closed with ‘Сага о прошлом’ (Saga of the Past’) and those melodies that resemble the fire that always threatens to take away the ice’s power of perpetuity!
