Rating: 9.1

Country: USA

Release Date: 2005

Record Label: Moribund

Track list:
1. Dark Sinistral Path
2. Solitary Winter Night
3. Storming The Gates Of Heaven
4. True Pagan Hearts [MP3]
5. Infernal Pact
6. Eternal Years Of Sorrow & Hate
7. The Black Metal Of Death

Total playing time: 35:15

Winter of Apokalypse - Solitary Winter Night

Slut- Bass
Armageddon- Drums
Fascist- Guitar/Vox

Just when did black metal become a juvenile farce? Having exhausted every sensationalist, politically-incorrect ideological stance from national socialism to paedophilia, black metal in its contemporary incarnation seems so far removed from the debauched depravity of 'The Return', so dislocated from the ritualistically macabre hymnals of Master’s Hammer, so dismally distant from the intoxicatingly hallucogenic otherworldliness of 'Transilvanian Hunger', a grandiose theater of self-importance and smug posturing that seems far more concerned with effusive, pompous imagery than genuine Satanic expression. With each Katharsis and each Legion Of Doom, black metal’s relevance continues to dissipate as bands thrive off sensational philosophical exclamations and internet scenester hype, forsaking the nefarious vitriol that once stoked its infernal fires. Of course, one of the most worrying developments in such an aeon is the fact that many self-righteous ‘’experts’’ have thoroughly forgotten the very premise of black metal- HEAVY FUCKING METAL.

The lessons of Bulldozer, Venom and Bathory have clearly not been lost on Oregon’s Winter Of Apokalypse, who with their debut record have crafted BLACK METAL that truly straddles the line between hateful and headbanging, infusing their disenchanted melancholia with a classic metal élan that draws just as much inspiration from the demonic expression of 'Under The Sign Of The Black Mark' as it plunders from Norway’s seemingly inexhaustible wellspring. What this means, of course, is that this is black metal the way it should and MUST be played- acutely sensitive of its past, present and future, distilling black metal to its bilious essence and vomiting it forth with frighteningly consummate conviction.

The closest reference points here would be Darkthrone’s 'Panzerfaust', Dodheimsgard’s 'Kronet Til Konge' and Satyricon’s 'Dark Medieval Times', though to reduce Winter Of Apokalypse to such a constraining, base description would be spectacularly unfair. Much like peers like Cult of Daath and Vultyr, there is an irrepressible, ‘’rocking’’ first wave sensibility here, a first-wave aesthetic that will likely inspire whiplash as opposed to grim-faced posturing. The songwriting here is also top-notch- “Dark Sinistral Path” opens with a rampaging, necksnapping rhythm lifted from the 'Blaze In The Northern Sky' playbook, alternating between frigid midpaced sections and ominous, foreboding passages, closing out with a trebly, spectral lead line, building in momentum before collapsing into a distant whisper. Equally impressive is the eerie, 'De Mysteriis'-esque passage that opens “True Pagan Hearts”, as well as the 'Morbid Tales'-worshipping chord progression that surfaces three minutes into the track, the ornate melody submerged underneath all the harsh dissonance and blastbeats on “Infernal Past”, the fucking MALEVOLENT “Equimanthorn” type breakdown that surfaces a minute through album standout “Black Metal Of Death”.

Production here is warm and crisp, opting for a feel quite reminiscent of post-'Ravishing Grimness' Darkthrone. Kick drums are full, rich and resonant, toms and snares are nicely distinguished, as are cymbals, which sound musical. The GREAT drum production here really accents the propulsive importance of the drums here, the band often striving for a less riff-oriented, more rhythm-based approach than the Moonfog Darkthrone template (which is not, of course, to say that there aren’t fantastic riffs around every turn here). Guitars are fluid and clean enough to allow for subtle, spectral lead melodies without straying too far from the barbarous filthiness of the recording. Be clear, this is still harsh, unrelentingly perverse BLACK METAL, but the production job really accentuates the innate musicality of this outfit, allowing them the sonic space to assert their own idiosyncrasies upon a well-worn musical blueprint.

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of this band is their lyrics, which hearken back to a time where you couldn’t listen to a black metal record without perusing the lyric booklet, where lyrics and the music were inextricable, providing for an immersive, enveloping experience. Winter Of Apokalypse have an unhealthy obsession with the mystery of the wilderness, their lyrics oriented around treading moonlit paths to the forest, presumably for purposes of sacrifice and ritual. When digested with the music, the lyrics make perfect sense, accenting the tormented desperation and profound desolation of the record’s barest, most melancholy passages. THIS is what black metal lyrics should be- succinct (read: not pseudo-intellectual), atavistic, truly frightening, rooted in the pagan traditions of the forest.

Ultimately, this is, in every imaginable way, the way I want a Nordic-influenced black metal record to sound. Dynamic, thrashy, filthy, involving, viscerally affecting on a musical and philosophical level, this is a record that is acutely aware of what it wants to achieve, and fervently refuses to stray from its unhallowed path. If you enjoyed the last Cult Of Daath record, this should already be high on your list of priorities.

June 28th, 2005