Wędrujący Wiatr - O turniach, jeziorach i nocnych szlakach

Wędrujący Wiatr - O turniach, jeziorach i nocnych szlakach (Werewolf Promotion, 2016)

Atmospheric black metal from Poland is the name of the game, using some of the elements of this subgenre, at the same time avoiding the best-known clichés.

The 56 minutes journey starts with some nature sounds, field recordings (?), beautiful acoustic guitar chords and some simple relaxing keys. Not a hint to black metal, actually you could expect this record to be relax&chill like this for the next hour, but after a few moments of peaceful sounds the fast black metal drums and the tremolo riffs breaks in. Still I can’t perceive the guitars as hostile or destructive, not really metal riffs, but more melody lines suppressed in reverb, so the guitars they have more like an ambiental character. The vocals are diverse. We have screamings, we have spoken words but also choirs and some singing with a pagan/heroic touch. Add the chimes/keys/bells and the music is even more tragic and epic.

Although I saw comparisons with other Polish acts like Furia, or Cultes des Ghoules, all those claims are false I say. This duo with this strange sounding (but quite original) name is more like an obscure version of Winterfylleth, or a less direct Forteresse, or if we want to stay on Polish ground, it’s more like a soft but shadowy Graveland.

Long songs (between 10 – 15 minutes), where the fast tempos always change into slower ones and the acoustic guitars have a persistent presence.  Fast or slow, the songs are never losing their hypnotic vibe. The desperate melodies are hidden in the layers of the album, the forest and the fog speaks through these sounds, still the band tries to elude the easy tricks and the standard riffs. The album is not catchy and only patience will show you the way through the hazy woodlands. Majestic, nature inspired trance-inducing black metal, not the mainstream attractive type, more the gloomy “sitting home at winter by the fire with a glass of wine” kind, highly recommended.

Rating: 8/10

By Rob

February 2017