Kalamazoo, Michigan is not one of the first places one would imagine high quality U.S. Black Metal would originate from, let alone any Black Metal act to begin with. However, this is the region that spawned Lifeforce Record's latest offering in this musical style. Winterus, originally called The Ancient, have signed with the label to issue their debut full-length recording In Carbon Mysticism. But, what we seem to get instead if more of a compilation then an actual full-length, and with that comes some issues that take away from what bite this effort really has.
While the song "Lone Wolves" actually kick starts the album, it isn't until "Reborn" that you will actually get any sense of who Winterus really is, and what their musical goal is for this release. But, even then, as the album progresses, much of it becomes lost in the way the band handles the album. There is a total on nine tracks available. Three of these tracks are instrumentals with "Lone Wolves" acting more as an extended introductory instrumental then anything, offering nothing but a melancholic atmosphere to get the listener braced for what's to come, but never really leading anywhere other then as a set up to the release. You then have three studio tracks that feature some vocal work that actually establish the foundation and obvious inspirations for the music, and much of the time these tracks feel like they use the instrumental before them simply to establish a setting. Finally, the last three tracks are live recordings, which become a whole other conversation entirely.
With six studio tracks and three live songs, one would assume these studio tracks would showcase the band of the group. Instead, the listener is left scratching their head. In Carbon Mysticism seems to jump all over the place with the overall sound and even production, which leaves Winterus looking like they are in the middle of an identity crisis, one that typically happens in the early stages of a band while they try to find themselves and distinguish what they want to do prior to being signed. For example, "Reborn" takes on a more early second wave Black Metal approach, showing signs of Immortal love with the rhaspier vocal style common to that band, as well as a recording quality that seems to stem from that early nineties time period. The sound is a little heavier too, which works out well for the song, though "Lone Wolves" doesn't necessarily set this up thanks to it's more melancholic sound. But then you have "Harmonious" which sounds like it's trying hard to sound like an underground French Black Metal release. The song's production is much more raw, and has more of an emotional vocal performance that works with the more artistic riffs that feel a bit deeper in the music. Again "No Rest" fails to set the song up, and actually feels more like it was meant to set up "Reborn", and "Lone Wolves" to establish this melancholic artistic sound on "Harmonious". But then the song "Moonlust" kicks in, and it becomes more of a Bathory sounding Black Metal track with a stylish feel through a better quality production that does better reflect the band's label, Lifeforce Records, and their more stylish roster, while "Eternal Ghost" kicks in with a more emotional raw Black Metal sound that takes on the likes of bands like Lifelover through passionate guitar chords and similar vocals just at a deeper tone.
Obviously, this is confusing as all hell, and clearly shows that this band was in no way ready to be signed. The evidence of the band still trying to figure out what they want to sound like is evident. But, does this mean these six tracks are bad all together? Not necessarily, as these are all actually rather good. Outside the flaws of the songs, many of these tracks are not that band. Sure, "Lone Wolves" really doesn't do much for the album, and some of the other instrumentals feel out of place, the other two are not bad at all. In fact, "Moonlust" is actually quite shocking with it's more epic sounding material and modern day sleek sound. The non-instrumental tracks are also quite entertaining, and the productions do try to emulate the styles the band is trying to capture, though "Harmonious" could have been a little stronger with some slightly more rich guitar work, instead coming off a little more hollow and tinny, especially with the vocals. The songs do manage to portray the right atmospheres as well, and with these three tracks, that becomes a very important aspect of this style, which in turns shows a band that does have a good sense of the varying worlds of Black Metal, and through this release shows their appreciation for them, though this method of paying respect doesn't quite work for the band's favor overall with the lack of fluid consistancy from one track to another.
Finally, you come upon the closing live songs. Why these tracks are live is anyone's best guess, and they really don't help the cause. While the other three tracks nicely capture the proper atmospheres the songs are setting and all have varying productions that seem to better fit the atmosphere and style of Black Metal the band is aiming to perform, these last three just come off as general underground raw Black Metal with nothing all too special, though these are clearly other songs the band could have recorded into the studio for this release since they do not appear on the album. But. these live tracks do show some promise. The main fault is more along the lines of the production quality. Everything sounds really muffled, and you can really pick up on issues in the drumming too. "Christ Reign", for example, has some moments where you can hear the double bass kicks go slightly off beat, as if the drummer is starting to tire, which is expected, but definitely not what one wants to hear in a live recording. The clicks are very feint too, as well as the cymbols, while the snares are pretty obvious and louder in the mix, all having a very wooden sound to them. The guitars feel like traditional more emotional underground and raw Black Metal, and they do shine through, though those more emotional atmospheric guitars are further back in the mix and can become harder to hear. The vocals shine nicely though, as they sound more powerful and sinister compared to the studio recordings. All of these elements that work for the live songs don't jump out immediately, and thanks to the very muffled production quality that makes the audio sound like you're listening to it after ascending a great height and waiting for your ears to pop, it makes these tracks a little harder to embrace, though "Dusk Unveils" shows the potential the band has in these live recordings with it's more sinister and melancholic atmosphere.
Overall, despite the many issues in production and the way the band handled the tracks on this release, In Carbon Mysticism does come off amateurish due to the lack of consistancy by the band, but with that eratic sound from track to track on this album comes an understanding that this group does have an understanding, as well as a great respect, for Black Metal in general, which is more reassuring then anything for those who find a genuine interest in Winterus with this recording. Hopefully by the next album, the group will figure out what they want to sound like, and stick with expanding on their abilities to that particular sound. The release shows signs of a band ready to break out into the Black Metal world, but was just signed way before they could grow and find themselves, and that greatly shows with this release. But, with all the negative things said, this shouldn't stop you from at least sampling this album. There are still some good songs on here that are worth checking out, and if you play with the order of the instrumentals to align with the songs they seem to introduce better, it can become a very interesting exploratory performance of the Black Metal style.
|
