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Nordgeist – Frostwinter

nordgeist – frostwinter

Info

Black Metal always had something to do with cold and wintery themes. Many band names, song titles and album covers have references to the cold north, some bands have even made it their core business. That makes it almost funny to hear ice-cold Black Metal from nice warm countries like Italy or Mexico. But, when a one-woman band from the far east of Siberia comes up with an album called ‘Frostwinter’, you know it’s serious.

Admittedly, I’ve never set foot on Russian soil, let alone that of Siberia, but I can just imagine that Nordgeist could supply the perfect soundtrack to such an experience. The fast and icy Black Metal of T, the anonymous woman behind Nordgeist, leads you past frozen rivers, cold ice plains and snowy forests. The pace is spot on, the drums provide the thundering rhythm upon which the melodic, yet fast riffs weave into a forest of gloom in which it is easy to get caught. All four songs are well over ten minutes, so there is plenty of time to work out the long-winded melodies and work towards an ultimate climax. When the tempo drops a bit, the whole thing seems to fade into a kind of trance-like slumber, only to erupt again into a frenzy of screams and whirlwind guitars.

Combining (very) fast Black Metal, melody, high-pitched screams and ambient-like soundscapes on a background of nature-inspired themes is probably something that hundreds of other bands have already done, but it has rarely been executed as well as what T performs with Nordgeist. In doing so, it is far from bands like Winterfylleth, Saor or Agalloch, where the emphasis is even more on evoking an atmosphere of nature, albeit by adding more Folk elements. Nordgeist really uses Black Metal as a tool for evoking the grandeur of the cold nature of its habitat.

For me, ‘Frostwinter’ is one of the better Black Metal records of recent times, it offers an almost unparalleled quality with the 50+ minutes of the album really flying by. Recommended for anyone who likes his (or her) Black Metal vicious yet melodic, mesmerizing and haunting. If you’re into bands like Paysage d’Hiver, this might just be right up your alley as well. Vinyl lovers will find the album in a nice solid matte gatefold sleeve and pressed on appropriately snow-white vinyl.

Nordgeist

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