Prominence and demise --- Winds --- 2007 (The End)
Winds, you say? A band called Winds? Interesting. I think. Tell me more.
Okay then. A progressive metal/neo-classical band from Norway, Winds have in their ranks a classical pianist, a neo-classical guitar virtuoso (it says here) and a black metal drummer. They have been togther since 1998, when they met up in more or less serindipitous circumstances, and have released four albums since then, of which “Prominence and demise” is their latest.
Influenced mainly by classical and ambient music, they mesh this with heavy metal and prog rock, in something the same way already-reviewed Adagio do. Opener “Universal creation array” starts with a nice little classical piano line, added to by some classical guitar before it bursts into a fully-fledged metal track, with some inspired vocals by Lars E. Si (who we'll just refer to as Lars from now on, for handiness' sake), and some excellent guitar work from Carl August Tidemann. The opening track is a long one, just over eight minutes, just about the longest on the album, though there are other tracks that come quite close.
“Distorted dimensions” is more openly metal than the previous track, not as intricate but still with some really nice piano from Andy Winter, while “The grand design” starts off in a very classical mode but then becomes a rock/metal cruncher, with drummer Hellhammer (yeah, that's his name, at least the one he goes by on the album!) keeping the pounding beat going. Lars executes some very impressive vocal work on this song, and there's a pretty damn badass solo from Tidemann too. My only minus here is the annoying addition of death vocals, courtesy (!) of Dan Swano: thanks Dan --- not!
There's a certain Black Sabbath feel to “When the dream of Paradise died”, but I have to admit I'm starting to lose interest, and this is only track four. It's technically perfect, yes, and different also, but I'm having a hard time distinguishing any real melody of memorable quality in the music. It's almost like some guys jamming or soundchecking. Maybe it's me, I don't know, but I can't see me humming any of these songs when I hit “stop” (which at the moment can't come soon enough, but let's give this album a chance, eh?)
“Fall and rise” has a nice classical guitar intro, then the classical guitar becomes electric guitar, but the piano behind both keeps going, and so far the melody is quite nice. The guitars here take on a recognisable Iron Maiden texture, and the melody itself sounds vaguely eastern-flavoured. Then it becomes a sort of metal boogie, and herein I believe lies the fundamental problem with Winds: they don't stick to one melody or beat for any of the songs --- the tracks drift from classical to metal to rock to prog to anything else in between, often within the same track, which makes it difficult to follow and also hard to appreciate.
In fairness, this seven-minute track has gone pretty quickly. I didn't feel it was dragged out or over-extended, but once it's over I can't remember how it went. This is the trouble: nothing leaves a lasting cohesive impression. The playing is flawless and very entrancing, but it's almost as if each musician is just showing off his talent, without giving any real thought as to how that meshes with the work of his bandmembers, which ends up in confused and muddied songs. “The darkest path” is a perfect example of this. I'm listening to it. I'm hearing great guitar solos, great classical piano, tremendous drumming, but it's over now and I can't remember how it went at all.
“Convictions and contradictions” reminds me of Threshold at times. It's a little more together than the previous tracks, but now we're seven tracks in on a nine-track album, and it's just too late. My opinion has been formed, and it's not good. Even the relative balladery of “When the cold wind blows” can't rescue this album. Unfortunately, it doesn't stay a ballad, and about two minutes into the almost seven-minute track it gets a little heavier, though in fairness not as manic as a lot of what has gone before. If I had to compare this to anything, it would be Edenbridge or Within Temptation, given the female backing vocals from Agnete M. Kirkevaag. I guess this is as close as Winds get to a ballad.
The closer (as if I could care at this point!) “The last line”, has a really nice violin intro, then the guitar bursts in and the song becomes another confused mess. As ever, there's the excellent individual performances: Tidemann is superb on the guitar, whether picking out gentle classical melodies or pushing it to the max with power-shredding that would make Yngwie Malmsteen jealous, Winter is a genius on the piano and keyboards, and Lars is a great vocalist. Hellhammer is, well, Hellhammer. But sadly all of these separate talents add up to less than the sum of their parts, resulting in a very disjointed and confusing album.
Perhaps I'm being unfair to Winds, if so I apologise, but this album did not stay in my memory once I had shut it off, and I always feel that at the very least you should be humming the last track to yourself as you put the album away, close the directory or whatever. Not only am I not doing that, I quite honestly don't think I'd be able to. I can't remember any of the tracks, and I could follow few of them in the first place.
If you want to hear great instrumentation, well-trained musicians and powerul passages of play, have a listen to this. But don't expect songs you can remember later on.
TRACKLISTING
1. Universal creation array
2. Distorted dimensions
3. The grand design
4. When the dream of Paradise died
5. Fall and rise
6. The darkest path
7. Convictions and contradictions
8. Where the cold winds blow
9. The last line