### Winds: Prominence and demise

#### 19/09/07 || Euthanatos

Winds is one of those extremely pretentious projects from Norwegian fucks. Problem is, pretension here truly presents itself with realization, for Winds is one god damn good band. “Reflections of the I” was bloody brilliant, and all of their other releases have at least something interesting in them. Age of Silence’s Andy Winter is one talented fuck.

The rest of the band is formed by Lars E. Si, former Khold, who sings his ass off, the multi-faceted and talented guitar Carl Tidemann, ex-Arcturus, and Jan Axel Von Blomberg, i.e., Hellhammer. Yes, that’s his real name. And you thought Hellhammer sounded daft.

There are also some very, very interesting guest appearances here. Our lord and savior, Dan Swanö, is singing here (and growling!), as well as Agnete M. Kirkevaag, from Madder Mortem. Fantastic participations by both of them, they alone would make the album worth it. Listen to “When the Dream of Paradise Died” and crap your pants. Oh, and let’s not forget the godly Lars Nedland, from viking/epic heroes Solefald, who kicks ass and then some (check out “The Grand Design”). And there’s so much more than that!

There’s also a string quartet here, who does an awesome job on Winter’s insane classical passages that perfectly mold into the metal aspect of the band. And the piano playing! Winter is so ridiculously good at what he does, one has to wonder what the hell is he doing playing metal. Yes, you read that right.

The drumming is superb (it’s Hellhammer, for crying out loud), Tidemann’s neoclassical solos are absurdly complex, the vocals resemble something very close to perfection, and I truly love the songwriting.

Seriously, I could go on forever. This is beautiful, beautiful music. Finally progressive metal, in the true sense of both words, with just the right amount of external influence.

Should I give this a perfect score, then? No. The lyrics are kinda cheesy and there are self-indulgent moments, naturally. But then it wouldn’t be “progressive”, would it?

The cover: Stunning artwork by Travis Smith. This dude never ceases to amaze me.

9,5 pretentious, but talented fucks, out of 10.

- Information
- Released: 2007
- Label: The End Records
- Website: www.winds.ws
- Band
- Lars E. Si : vocals, bass
- Andy Winter : piano
- Jan Axel Von Blomberg: drums
- Dan Swanö: guest vocals
- Lars Nedland: guest vocals
- Agnete M. Kirkevaag: guest vocals
- Oystein Moe: bass
- Andre Orvik: violin
- Vegard Johnsen: violin
- Dorthe Dreier: viola
- Hans Josef Groh: cello

- Tracklist
- 01. Universal Creation Array
- 02. Distorted Dimensions
- 03. The Grand Design
- 04. When the Dream of Paradise Died
- 05. Fall and Rise
- 06. The Darkest Path
- 07. Convictions and Contradictions
- 08. Where the Cold Winds Blow
- 09. The Last Line