Having recently visited Vancouver, Canada, for the first time, I was quite taken with everything the region had to offer: the cuisine, the geography, and the people. Of course me being the intense music aficionado that I am, I started looking into what is happening there in the music world. Of course, there is a quite dynamic and varied scene, and I just had to dive headfirst into much of it. One of the bands I saw in a flyer/ club ad was Deathwinds. The main thing that grabbed me was the similar font style to Sadistik Execution, so of course I gotta check that you know?
Granted, the band is not as chaotic as Sadistik, but they do have an Angelcorpse meets Celtic Frost vibe going. They also remind me of the US band Summon as well. The closest idea-wise that they do have to Sadistik Execution besides the logo is musically, they have a slightly unhinged, Bestial War Metal quality to their music. So upon further research, the band contains various members who spend time with other luminaries in the scene, such as Ceremonial Bloodbath, Encoffinate, and Grave Infestation. All quality acts in their own right and thus begs to say this band can’t be too bad, right?
At the onset you are welcomed with a mysterious and quite melodious intro. Do not let this lull you into a sense of complacency tho. You are hit immediately afterwards by a riff from hell and ‘Tortured Scripture’ hits you like a ton of bricks, you can feel the energy and the chaotic nature in the song. The band just plugs into amps and lets emotion take over. No worries about being clinical or precise here. It’s that same exuberance that carries much of the material through this relentless pummeling you will receive. Production has a slight garage band feel, but nothing to the detriment of what you are hearing. It has that dirtiness, a grim quality that just grabs you by the seat of the pants. I wish the bass were a bit louder in the mix; it would add a cool dimension to the songwriting. As it is, it has a cool-sounding rumbling in the background. On this release, you may be expecting an utter cacophony, a Bestial War Metal assault from what I described and also from the cover art, but you would be wrong.
The band holds it together quite well and crafts some memorable riffing and in its structure that give voice to their own particular brand of auditory hatred. There is a primal savagery here that harkens to the aforementioned bands, but also bands like Archgoat and a speedier Cianide come to mind as well. Much of it is basic and to the point over its 30-minute runtime. It’s not trying to change the world, but it looks back to those who did in a primal, old-school way. It wouldn’t hurt you to check this out.
